Framed in blood
by IcyLady
Summary: It started with the yearly assessment exam of the Healing Alchemist. Mustang had expected the Philosopher's Stone, but he got something completely different. The non-homunculi are really just the beginning of his trouble, because huge, metal, killing machines appear and there is a new breed of man-eating, violet butterflies.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own D Gray Man or Fullmetal Alchemist.**

 **Author's note: The title is actually also a title of a song by The 69 Eyes, which has nothing to do with the story. But The 69 Eyes are awesome, so go and listen. Also, this story is just an excuse for me to write another version of Alma's and Kanda's happily ever after (without romance). If you're into that, I strongly encourage you to read "9 bitter years" and "Garden of fruitless blossoms"!**

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 **Framed in blood**

 **Ch 1**

General Roy Mustang was a very busy man. That was what he always said although some claimed that he was mainly busy avoiding work or chatting up young, pretty women. Neither of the latter statements was completely untrue, but it was a fact that his recent promotion came with an increased workload, leaving him much less time than he would have liked for pleasures. For one, he became the highest ranking State Alchemist and thus directly responsible for the whole structure. It happened right on time for the yearly assessment exam, also, tripling his workload at the very least.

The skills and work of many State Alchemists was known to him already, making part of the assessment easy. Armstrong's test was a mere formality and so was Elric's. The latter took a long time because the least Mustang could do for the prodigious teenager was to let him stay home and take care of his brother until Alphonse was in good form. He went to Resembool to conduct the test, arranging to test most of the State Alchemists who were stationed outside the Central on the way.

Now, however, he was back in his comfortable office and had the most daunting task to do: the assessment of the State Alchemists involved in science rather than combat. There was a portion of science teams of which he hadn't even heard until recently. He scheduled exam after exam and Hawkeye constructed a punishing schedule of reading he needed to do for each exam, to not make a fool of himself. He appreciated her thought, but, as he read through yet another thick holder, he wished he could make a fool of himself.

'There is another one for today,' Hawkeye said, coming into the office with a folder. Mustang groaned. 'It is rather thin, sir, the Healing Alchemist has only been nominated last year,' she added and Mustang found his curiosity piqued by the title. Healing was certainly something few alchemists invested themselves into, with the notable exception of Marcoh, who had been cheating. He put away the thick folder and took the thin one, ignoring the disapproval on Hawkeye's face.

'Thank you, Riza,' he said absently, engrossed in the text from the very first sentence. James Teller has come to the Central a couple of years ago with the desire to become a State Alchemist. He had failed the entrance exam twice and was going to fail the third time, until another applicant got gravely wounded and Teller administered a potion of his creation, instantaneously healing the unfortunate man. Later on people said that the applicant would have died without the potion, but that wasn't confirmed.

In consequence, Teller was granted the State Alchemistship and the title of the Healing Alchemist, since then providing the army with his magical potion that instantaneously healed any wound and returned the men from the brink of death, literally. Humbly, Teller requested only small research facilities within the working Second Lab, to better his recipe. He was of course granted his request and chose the smallest lab complex, containing barely three rooms, saying he didn't want to abuse of the government's hospitality.

Too good to be true, Mustang thought, skimming through the reports of eye witnesses of occasions when the potion was used. It worked, alright. Multiple witnesses confirmed its efficacy. There was no way it was a scam, but how could someone create something like that and why had his predecessor never wondered about the nature of the potion? There were no details of the preparation or the ingredients whatsoever. Indeed there was nothing of interest in the folder. Mustang was certainly going to ask questions, he decided and, with a sigh, went back to the thick folder detailing the stumbling research of the Bone Alchemist, who seemed to be the complete opposite of the Healing Alchemist. He only skimmed through the numerous reports full of empty words and promises, deciding that if the man had nothing interesting to show he would fail straight away.

Maybe, if he was done fast enough, he would manage to get a drink that evening, he thought hopefully, getting up and putting on his coat. The meetings weren't planned for three more hours, but he was the damned general. It had to be good for something, like coming unannounced to see the work in progress, for example. Maybe he would shake up either of the two alchemists and get some amusement out of it? Anything was good.

Everybody looked up when he entered the front office, six pairs of eyes widening in surprise of varying degree. He smirked and most, except for Hawkeye and the newest addition to the team, a very promising youngster, relaxed, going back to their work. The only female in the room got up and asked if he wanted to proceed earlier than planned, to which he replied positive.

'I have my medical visit now, sir,' she protested. 'I cannot follow you to the assessment exam.'

'I'm sure that neither of the alchemists is going to attack me, Hawkeye,' he told her with fondness in his tone that was reserved only for her. 'I'll take somebody else,' he added when she grimaced with displeasure. He could almost hear her thinking that "the alchemists are not the only people you will encounter, sir." She was probably right also, so Mustang looked at the others seated in the room, suddenly interested at the prospect of getting out of the office.

'I can go, sir,' said the newbie getting up, much to everybody's surprise. He was the youngest of them by far, suggested by Armstrong who only had good things to say about the boy, and so far had been rather shy. Mustang looked at him thoughtfully, glad that the youth was starting to feel comfortable enough in the presence of the illustrious Flame Alchemist, whom he had told Breda he feared a bit, to speak up. He saw the young man fidget under his careful gaze, but the dark brown eyes never left Mustang's face.

He nodded and motioned the other to go and they left the office without further hesitation. Hawkeye called after them to say she'd arrange a car and indeed a car was waiting, along with two standard guards provided by the new Führer to any officer going away on official business. Mustang ignored the guards, whom he knew would go with them, and motioned his companion to get in the back with him. It was a high time to get to know the kid, he thought.

As the car started, he glanced at the other, noting the focused, serious expression. Gone was the usual smile that he came to associate with the dark-haired youth. It was replaced by lips pursed in determination and a piercing gaze directed outside. Was he that worried about his task of protecting Mustang? It was amusing and touching in its own way, he supposed and cleared his throat to get the other's attention.

'You can relax,' he said in what he thought was a kind tone. 'We have a while to go and I hate silence on the trips like that. Tell me something about yourself,' he added, making sure to not make it sound like an order. The youth looked lost. 'Tell me how you got that scar,' Mustang suggested, watching a hand reach to the horizontal scar that ran across the other's nose. It stood out on the otherwise unmarred skin, weirdly regular in shape.

'Actually I had it since I remember,' replied the other with the faintest of blushes. 'My foster parents didn't know how I got it either, I asked,' he added with a shrug. Disappointing, thought Mustang, and asked about the life the youth had led before he came to the Central and why he decided to join the military. Visibly relaxed, the other answered and even dared to ask some questions himself and Mustang found that he enjoyed his company and enthusiasm that bubbled from the youth's words. Probably Armstrong was right that Mustang needed new blood in his team.

The road to the Second Lab, where both Alchemists had their research facilities, passed uneventfully and so did the first assessment. The Bone Alchemist was unable to produce an interesting result and started to cry when Mustang proclaimed him stripped from his title and privileges. Mustang kept a stony cold face, noting that it was difficult for his young companion, and left without unnecessary pleasantries. A flushed researcher showed him the way to the lab of the Healing Alchemist, clearly eager to not fall out of graces with the new general.

James Teller was a tall, thin man whose smug smile belied the humble profile that emerged from his file. He greeted Mustang with calmness and welcomed him into his main lab, where the general immediately noticed two guards standing by one of the other doors. Together with the two by the entrance to the main office they made an impressive guard and he mentioned it to the alchemist.

'A successful research induces much envy,' the man said cryptically, his bony face betraying dislike. 'As it is, general, you arrive right on time to witness my newest potion. I'm afraid I don't manage to significantly increase the healing rate, but I have managed to considerably decrease the costs,' he added. Mustang remembered the exorbitant cost of the potion and nodded in approval, despite himself appreciating the man's efforts. 'I have also managed to establish that it can be administered directly on the wound, which probably is the sole reason behind the faster healing I have observed.'

'I will need a demonstration,' Mustang commented. Teller produced a small dagger and handed it, hilt first, towards Mustang's young escort. The general turned right in time to see the brown eyes widen in surprise as the youth took a step back. The reaction made him frown slightly, making a mental note to ask the young soldier about it later. 'Why don't you use one of your guards,' he suggested, turning back to the alchemist, who grimaced. Privately, Mustang wondered why the alchemist didn't use his magical potion on himself if it was so amazing. Could there be something he didn't want on his skin or in his body?

'Of course, sir,' the alchemist said and called one of the guards from the entrance. A curious choice, decided Mustang, since there were two already in the lab. He was, however, distracted when the guard cut his arm without hesitation. The alchemist dropped a bit of his reddish potion and the wound closed with a hiss, some smoke escaping. Exactly like the reports said, thought Mustang, awed despite himself. With the corner of his eye he saw his escort looking fixedly at the guard's arm with that determined expression he wore in the car.

'If you permit me, Mr Teller, I would like to see the preparation of such a potion,' Mustang said. The alchemist visibly didn't like the suggestion and Mustang didn't believe it for one second when he said it took a long time to prepare. He didn't say it though. 'How about the list of ingredient's then?' he suggested instead, this time using a tone that left no doubts about his seriousness.

'The secret-' the alchemist started crossly.

'Is safe with me,' he cut him. It got him a glare. 'I am speaking from scientific curiosity, an alchemist to an alchemist,' he said in a friendly tone and it was only half-lie. He was half curious, half suspicious and gods help the Healing Alchemist if Mustang found even the smallest hint of the Philosopher's Stone anywhere in his labs. He withstood the unfriendly gaze without a flinch and the alchemist sighed in resignation.

'I would appreciate if your escort stayed behind, sir,' Teller said and Mustang nodded at the youth who was visibly displeased with the order. Mustang mouthed that he could protect himself, but the youth didn't look any happier. He was probably too influenced by Riza's fussing, he thought. He shrugged mentally and followed the alchemist to the guarded room, slipping on his gloves discreetly. He was not a complete fool after all.

The inside of the room was not at all what he expected. There was no bloody chamber for sacrificing humans, nor was there the smallest trace of the Stone. It didn't even resemble an alchemist lab, like the first room did, but rather a hospital room. There was even a thin bed, covered with a dark blanket but clearly containing a body. With an angry frown, Mustang told the alchemist to uncover it, which the man did, after some hesitation.

A human being was lying of the bed, tightly strapped with thick, leather belts. The person was a young man, seemingly untouched, as pretty as a doll and pale as though he was made of porcelain. He had long, dark hair and Xingese features. He was unconscious. There was little doubt as to his role in Teller's research once Mustang noticed a permanent IV port on the inside of the man's elbow. He felt his blood boil in fury. It probably showed on his face, because the alchemist backed off and stuttered that he could explain. Mustang ordered him to speak in a quiet hiss.

'He appeared out of nowhere one and a half year ago,' the alchemist said quietly, his voice shaking with fear he could not hide. 'I saw him fall from the sky, but there were no wounds when I approached. He never regained consciousness, but look,' he said and grabbed a small scalpel. Before Mustang could protest he cut the man's arm shallowly. It barely bled before the cut healed with a hiss and some smoke and it stunned Mustang speechless for a moment.

'I think it has something to do with this mark, because I have seen it grow,' the alchemist continued, profiting from Mustang's shock. He pulled down the flimsy, green shirt to uncovered a part of a tattoo-like mark on the man's chest. 'I tried to investigate, but other than taking blood samples I cannot do anything. He heals too fast. I'm trying to replicate his blood, but so far there has been no success,' the alchemist babbled, pointing towards the intricate machinery on his desk. 'I only need another year and then I will have a serum that doesn't require his blood,' he promised.

A homunculus. There was no doubt in Mustang's head although who and when could have made one was beyond him. Was it this man, this "Healing Alchemist"? The "fall from the sky" line was an obvious lie, but it seemed an insane loss of effort to create a homunculus only play a State Alchemist. Was it one that had somehow survived the fights against the Father? Regardless, it needed to be taken into military custody, as did the alchemist, to whom Mustang had stopped listening a moment ago.

'Karma, I need your help here,' he called out to his escort, ignoring the alchemist's desperate protest. Poor kid, he thought as footsteps neared the lab, he's going to get a shock of his life seeing this. He regretted not taking Havoc with him, especially when his escort froze in the doorway, eyes fixed on the unconscious man on the bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch 2

Consciousness was thoroughly undesired. He couldn't fight the straps holding him to the hard bed and nobody heard him scream or nobody cared. He had long since stopped screaming anyway. He had lost count of how many times he woke up in the same place, sometimes feeling his blood being drained, sometimes to the Seal healing whatever needed healing. Sometimes there was that man, the thin, bony face, saying nothing and smirking smugly as he struggled pointlessly. He hated those times the most, helplessly furious at his situation. He could only hope that the Seal would run out of his life at some point.

That, of course, was not probable, since he wasn't doing anything dangerous. Hell, he wasn't doing anything and, as far as he could tell, the Seal only needed to heal the damage from staying motionless on the hard bed and blood loss, which must have been considerable. There have been some surgeries in the beginning, he remembered vaguely, but they stopped after he woke up in the middle of one for the third time. Nothing for the Seal to get exhausted over, so he resigned himself to a lifetime of inaction.

This time was different. The haze of whatever was keeping him asleep receded to the sounds of discussion and he heard sharp orders being spoken. He realized that he hadn't heard actual human speech since the fall that might or might not have been an illusion of his drugged brain. It took all his self-control to not betray his returning consciousness as he tried to focus on the words, spoken with an accent he had never heard before. He very nearly twitched when he felt the first of the leather straps falling undone. Then another one and he nearly held his breath, realizing that it was his chance. Maybe the only one he would ever get.

Not yet, he repeated in his head over and over again. The suspense was killing him, figuratively, as he waited with closed eyes, forcing his breathing to remain deep and regular. The one giving orders fell silent or left the room he was in, but he could hear a good number of people. Five? He grew unused of this kind of thinking, having spent god knew how long on that cursed bed. If he got Mugen he would slice it in half just for the sake of it, he promised himself and waited.

Finally the last strap was removed and he sprang up as fast as he could, his head spinning, among the startled shouts that erupted around him. He opened his eyes as he landed on the floor a bit unsteadily and blinked them closed again in the harsh light, cursing. In the ensuing chaos, he did an inventory of his state.

He was barefoot, clearly feeling the cold of the tiles seeping through the soles of his feet, which tingled. By the small chill on his skin he figured that he was dressed in the flimsy excuse of clothes people sometimes got dressed in hospitals, a T-shirt like top and lose pants. He was unarmed and probably not as fast as he was used to be, because the Seal could only heal him, not train him. All that didn't matter, he decided firmly. He was leaving and everybody who stood on his way would find out just how dangerous an unarmed Kanda Yuu could be.

It all lasted a split of a second, after which he forced his eyes open to assess the situation. He was still in the same room, together with five men dressed in blue uniforms. One of them was reporting to somebody on the other side of the open door, while the others looked at him carefully, weary of his moves, guns trained at him. The damned bed was blocking two of them for coming close, which was an advantage. As he glanced around quickly, something gleamed to his side and he saw Mugen, half drawn, on one of the bench tops, immediately setting his first goal.

Without hesitation he moved in the direction of the katana, kicking the man that stood between him and the blade. Ribs cracked under his attack and the man got propelled into the cupboards brutally, crushing the glass fronts before he fell. The others shouted something, but he didn't care, grabbing Mugen securely, feeling alive for the first time since he arrived to that place. It gleamed in the light as he drew it fully and turned around. He slashed the head clean off the second blue uniform who tried to attack him from the back moments ago.

He saw fear as the remaining three backed away and he smirked mockingly. What did they expect? He glanced around again, blinking as his vision swam slightly, before a hiss of the air alerted him to a fiery projectile going his direction. He dodged in the last second and, under the cover of the bed, went in for the third of the blue uniforms, cutting his legs. Then he glanced towards the door he had noticed before, where a blue uniform was standing, hand forward and fingers ready to snap.

'Fire,' the blue uniform in the doorway ordered. The same voice who spoke orders before.

'Yuu,' shouted a very familiar voice at the same time. He faltered. There was another blue uniform in the doorway, with messy, dark hair and a horizontal scar on his face. His breath caught but before he had the time to react otherwise, pain erupted in his arm and thigh. He couldn't stop a pained shout that merged with a desperate "no" from the doorway. His leg gave in under him. As he was falling, one of the blue uniforms in the doorway snapped his fingers and the second rushed towards him, arriving just before the ball of fire.

There was a burst of heat that didn't quite hit him, an angry and frightened exclamation of "Karma, what the hell" and a familiar hiss of regeneration. The shot wounds stopped bleeding and, in the shocked silence that fell, he looked up at the person standing in front of him, arms spread to the sides in a protective gesture. He needed to blink the silhouette into focus.

'Alma?' he asked quietly, uncertainly. The man half turned to him and shot him a bright smile that he knew so well, a smile he never expected to see again. His gut twisted as memories rushed to the forefront of his mind, momentarily blinding him.

'Karma?' asked the blue uniform in the doorway incredulously. From beyond Alma, he could see the man's stricken expression, slowly merging into shock and anger. 'What is the meaning of this, Karma?' the man asked and the tone demanded an immediate answer. Alma turned away from Kanda, back to the blue uniform in the doorway.

'I will tell you everything if you promise to not hurt Yuu,' he said firmly. 'He has done nothing wrong. He only hurt those people because he wanted to be free,' he added at the blue uniform's glare towards the ones Yuu had killed. 'I have done much worse before and I'm really sorry, but I will stand by his side now. If you choose to attack you might catch us, but the price will be heavy.'

'Threatening me will bring you nowhere, Karma. I have trusted you,' the blue uniform growled. Yuu gripped Mugen tighter, because there was only one way this situation could continue. He was ready to jump into action at the smallest sign from Alma, a new portion of adrenaline giving him the strength he needed. 'Let us take this homunculus to the base and find out what are his goals. Then we will deal with you and how come you have healed all the damage from my fire ball, but if you cooperate I promise I will be understanding,' the blue uniform said firmly. Alma shook his head.

'His name is Yuu. He is not a homunculus, whatever that is. He is a human being and his only goal is to understand the situation,' he said firmly. Kanda Yuu wanted to protest, but his self-preservation instinct made a rare appearance and told him to keep his mouth shut. 'He is as confused about this place as I was nine, no, ten now, ten years ago,' Alma added. This got Kanda's attention because nine years ago he had killed Alma. Or has he been a captive for a year now? It didn't seem impossible, but it made him shudder.

'Explain,' the blue uniform demanded. Alma laughed shortly.

'Can we go somewhere more comfortable?' he asked. 'Can I have your promise that you'll listen with an open mind?'

'Alma,' Yuu hissed in protest, but got ignored. The blue uniform seemed to consider the request before finally saying that they would have to go unarmed and handcuffed, which Kanda immediately said he refused to do. It seemed like the blue uniform had hoped for such an answer.

'Yuu, please trust me,' Alma said clearly and loud enough for everybody to hear. 'General Mustang is a reasonable man and he is very much against human experimentation,' he added turning to Kanda and smiling again. 'I missed you so much,' he said and extended a hand to help him up. Automatically, Kanda took it and stumbled into Alma's warm hug. Immediately, before Kanda even had the time to hug Alma back, they were separated and handcuffed, Mugen taken away and his desperate protests ignored.

'I hope you're not wrong, Alma,' he said. Alma seemed unperturbed by the handcuffs and smiled before turning to the blue uniform and growing serious. He introduced the man as general Roy Mustang of the Amestrian military. He introduced himself as Alma Karma and waited until Kanda growled "Kanda Yuu" before saying that they were Second Exorcists from an organization called Black Order.

'There is no such organization in Amestris,' Mustang said harshly and Alma nodded in agreement.

'Neither is there a continent called Asia anywhere in this world,' he said. Kanda stared at him openly, while Mustang narrowed his eyes. 'Ten years ago, I did something horrible. To stop me, Yuu had to kill me and kill me he did, over and over again. Then finally there was darkness and a place of white, with no walls or ceiling, only a door, a huge door. Afterwards I was in Amestris and I will tell you everything now.'

Kanda didn't miss how the man, Mustang, twitched at the mention of the white room. Whatever Alma said did the job because they were taken away. Much to his chagrin, he fainted or fell asleep on the way, but when he woke up, instead of in a prison cell, he found himself on a soft sofa in an office. A promise of death if they try something funny was issued. Mustang took time to tell them about how he had killed an undying humunculus some time ago, but he ignored it as he did with Alma's worried gaze. A woman in a blue uniform joined them and Mustang ordered Alma to talk.

'Yuu and me belonged to an organization called Black Order,' Alma started calmly. 'It is an organization that fights with a very particular evil: demons, and to fight they need people who can wield a weapon that can kill demons. There are few who can and so the Black Order decided to create humans that would not die and would be compatible with the weapons. Humans like me and Yuu. You saw how we heal. We don't die either, not for long,' he said. Kanda wished he kept some of the information secret, but he was in no position to complain for the moment.

The blond woman fidgeted at this and looked at Mustang, but he motioned for her to stay quiet and he urged Alma to continue. Alma smiled and skimmed over the synchro tests, managing to achieve revolted expressions on the faces of both blue uniforms, which, Kanda supposed, was on purpose. He nearly completely skipped the carnage of the Sixth Lab and only said that he wanted to kill Kanda and how they fought, how Alma lost.

'Like I said, one time Yuu killed me I found myself in darkness that dissipated into a blindingly white place with no features,' he continued, visibly bothered by that part of the story. The words brought half-forgotten memories to Kanda's head. Had he died? 'The only thing that was not white was a huge door and in front of it sat a sort of outline. It asked if I want to go on or not and I saw no reason to stay, so I walked through the door and found myself somewhere I didn't understand at all,' he paused. Mustang asked whether Kanda also went through a door and Kanda nodded mutely.

'You must understand, I have never been out of the lab,' Alma continued with a wince. 'I didn't understand anything on the other side of the door. I actually attacked the person who came to help me first and I have no idea how they managed to talk me out of killing them. They became my foster parents and I learnt to live a normal life, trying to not think about the past until it started to feel like a dream. I only needed to be careful to never let anybody see me hurt myself,' he added and snorted. 'I can tell you it was not easy with how clumsy I am. Eventually I had to decide what to do with myself and joining the military seemed as good a choice as any other.'

'Does Armstrong know any of this?' Mustang asked. Alma shook his head.

'You're the first person to hear my story,' he said. 'I expected to continue a monotonous life in the military until the end, but then I got sent out with some others to escort the rebels from Briggs back to the Central ten months ago. Well, they rebelled again and my unit got badly beaten. One of the guys was near death when that alchemist arrived and made him drink a potion. And I watched his wounds close with a hiss, smoke coming out from them as the tissue reknitted, just like my wounds would. Just like they had, because nobody noticed, but I got wounded back then as well.'

Alma paused and glanced at Kanda, whose blood was in that potion. He could only imagine what Alma must have felt in that moment, what he would have felt: fear and hope. Their healing skills were characteristic and, from the shocked reactions they got, this world had no such technology or skills.

'The alchemist went away. I tried to talk with him back in the Central, but he brushed me off and, when I asked how he got the potion, he got aggressive and threatening. So I went back to the headquarters and heard that you were going to get promoted to be the head of the State Alchemists,' Alma said and shrugged. Mustang looked torn. The blond woman was frowning and asked what happened then. 'What do you think? I worked slowly on Armstrong until he got the bright idea to send me to your office. He never suspected a thing,' he added. Kanda rolled his eyes at the obvious attempt to shield others from the general's probable anger.

'How did you know there would be the assessment exam?' Mustang asked harshly. He obviously felt betrayed and Kanda couldn't fully blame him. He couldn't really find it in himself to care about Mustang's feelings either. 'Did you know where I would go when you offered to escort me?'

'I didn't know about the assessment exam before joining your team, but that wouldn't have mattered,' Alma replied. 'I only wanted information. Sooner or later I would hear something about the Healing Alchemist or I would find out where to look for him. And yes, Hawkeye told us all whom you were going to see today. Then Havoc went on about the potions and how he saw one work. By then I knew enough about you to expect you wouldn't take it easily if the Healing Alchemist was using a human factor in his research. I was hoping you would help, if my suspicions turned true, but if you wouldn't, we'd just escape,' he paused and took a deep breath. 'Please don't take it personally, general. Yuu is my whole life,' he finished and Kanda felt himself blush slightly. Damned be Alma for saying idiocies like that out loud!

'You're the first person who managed to sneak around me like that,' Mustang admitted and there was some awe in his tone, even if he sounded generally displeased. 'Do you know how he made those potions?' he asked. Alma shrugged and said it was Yuu's blood that healed people and whatever else the alchemist put in it was probably to keep the blood fresh. Kanda shuddered despite himself. He didn't like the idea that for a year he was a living blood bag.

'How do you want us to trust your story though?' the blond woman, Hawkeye, Kanda supposed since she flinched at the mention of the name before, asked, a frown still on her face. Mustang winced and muttered something that made her eyes widen.

'We'll talk about it again,' he said, standing up. 'You will be my well-guarded guests for the moment and if for a second I think you're plotting I'll separate you and lock you both up well, so do me the courtesy of being smart. In the meantime,' he turned to the woman. 'I think it's time to call Fullmetal back. Tell him it's urgent.'

The woman left with a nod and Mustang looked at them thoughtfully. Kanda glared hatefully just for the sake of it.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3

The day was beautifully sunny and peaceful, like most of the days since he arrived to the rural neighbourhood. The few clouds that sailed on the blue sky served only to freshen up the world, hiding the sun for short time and then going on, letting it shine. He was sitting under a tree, listening to the leaves rustle in the gentle wind that caressed the world, making waves in the tall grass. Birds chirped cheerfully in the tree until his stomach growled loudly and scared them off.

He glared at nothing in particular. He couldn't remember the last time he was not hungry, or rather he could and that was what made it so bad. The last time he had been full was back in the headquarters, just before he took the Ark with Lavi to go on a mission. He didn't remember what exactly he had eaten but he still remembered the dread that accompanied every mission ever since the new breed of demons managed to kill Kanda a year earlier. Ever since then, or rather since they overcame the shock, it felt like the war was lost, but the new demons never showed up again. Nevertheless, they were there, somewhere, and the suspense was slowly eating them all from the inside.

But all that was five days earlier and for him the suspense was over. The mission was a trap, he supposed, because there was the new demon waiting and the fight was extremely fast, the demon proving to be faster than Crown Clown. He got hit square in the chest. There was darkness and he barely had the time to wonder whether that was death. He got blinded by whiteness that suddenly surrounded him, a bit as though he had gone into the Ark. Only it was not the Ark and it felt dangerous. Very dangerous in fact and he literally jumped when a voice spoke up behind him.

'You're picking up the rate of appearances,' said an outline in white. Behind it, stood a monstrous door in a dark, fluctuating frame. Sickened, he realized that it was made of small people, extending their hands and heads, soundlessly screaming. He regretted looking closer. 'The next one is just behind also,' the outline cackled and a shiver ran down his spine. 'Are you going on or staying here?' it asked.

Always walking forward, he remembered thinking. He didn't even wonder what was beyond the door or whether there were other doors. He crossed the one in front of him, wanting to be out of the place, and found himself in a forest, surrounded by calmness. Shocked, he stood still and listened, expecting a trap. None came. The sounds around were typical for a forest, as far as he could tell, never having spent extended amounts of time one on one with nature.

Mindful of the words the strange creature had said he waited, hoping, as horrible as it sounded since it implied death, that Lavi appeared as well. However, as the night fell he was forced to acknowledge that he was alone and weirdly frightened. With great difficulty, he managed to catch and crudely prepare something to eat. He managed to force himself to eat it as well, wishing he was back in the headquarters, enjoying Jerry's exceptional food. He slept badly on the forest floor and the following day he stumbled out of the forest to find a small, peaceful village.

The Ark didn't reply to his call and he couldn't decide if he was upset or relieved by that. His Innocence did and again he was torn between the relief of being armed and the annoyance of being enslaved to the damned thing. His eye didn't react, but he was doubtful whether it broke, like the Ark, or the coast was clear, so he spent four days spying on the village from the distance. Nothing worthwhile has happened, which was definitely relieving. He did get to hear some snippets that made him believe he was extremely far from home, much further than he had ever been. None of the names sounded familiar.

His stomach growled again and he groaned, snapping out of his thoughts. He needed to get a proper meal in soon or the whole world would hear his protesting stomach and he would have to die of embarrassment. As it was, the sound seemed to have reached two teenagers he was watching that morning. They looked towards him, golden-blond hair nearly gleaming in the sun and he forced a smile onto his face. Now that he was noticed, he pushed himself up and slowly made his way towards the two, watching them carefully, despite the easy smile on his face.

They seemed to be more or less his age, brothers beyond any doubt. They looked it, but also he has heard about them from the people in the village, so he knew that the younger one, leaning heavily on crutches, had been missing for a number of years. He was back, apparently, since two months, looking unhealthily thin and pale but always happy. His hair was short and his eyes were warm brown. His older brother, standing now in front of him with arms crossed on his chest looked far less welcoming. He had long hair, tied in the back and golden eyes and it gave the Exorcist a bad start, his smile wavering at the edges. He continued on nevertheless, his grey eyes firmly meeting the golden ones.

'What are you doing in Resembool?' asked the older brother when the Exorcist came close enough. He recognized the name he heard once already and pinned it to the village. 'Are you a soldier? I don't recognize your uniform,' he added.

'I'm lost,' the Exorcist said truthfully, for the moment ignoring the second question. He supposed that he was a soldier, but the answer was not straightforward. 'My name is Allen Walker,' he introduced himself and, after a soft, admonishing "brother", the long-haired teenager introduced himself as Edward Elric and his brother as Alphonse. Allen's stomach chose that moment to growl again and Alphonse giggled before asking if Allen would like to join them for lunch. Allen's mouth watered at the very thought.

'Al! We don't even know him,' Edward protested and Allen agreed, adding that he couldn't possibly intrude upon them like that. God was his witness that those were the most difficult words to say and he supposed that his hunger showed in his expression, because Edward's gaze softened somewhat. 'If you try anything stupid, let me tell you that I'm a State Alchemist,' he warned, whatever that meant. Allen promised that he had no stupid things in mind.

'Granny Pinako always makes too much food anyway,' said Alphonse as they started towards the nearby house slowly. Walking was a visible effort for him, but Allen said nothing, guessing that it was a touchy subject. 'Half of the times we end up eating the same thing at least the following day, so I'm sure there will be enough for you,' he added cheerfully and Allen said he was glad to take him up on the challenge. Alphonse laughed and went on about the different dishes the Pinako lady had recently prepared and Allen's vivid imagination was driving him crazy.

'You should not forget Winry's apple pie,' Edward butted in and Allen groaned. He listened to the description of the pie, which was "almost as good as Mrs Hughe's pie", wishing that he could just tell the two of them to shut up. Of course he wouldn't say something like that. It would be rude, and doubly so since they were going to give him free food that he so desperately needed. He had considered using his card skills to win some money, but the village seemed too small for it and he didn't need to start with a bad reputation.

He chased that thought away as they entered the house. Politely, he greeted a small grandma, who introduced herself as Pinako, and a pretty blond teenager in worker overalls, who said she was Winry. They welcomed him in just because Edward said it was alright and Allen was amazed. He couldn't remember when such a welcome had been extended towards him last. Surely not once since he took up the uniform of an Exorcist, which didn't seem to mean anything in Resembool.

While Winry set the table, playfully arguing with Edward and Alphonse over some thing or another, Allen got a glance at the map of the country stuck to the wall. He recognized some names from the snippets he heard in the village and quickly made up his story about other places, a bit further away. When Pinako inevitably asked where he was from, he had an answer ready and, when the question of his uniform popped up again, he evaded it with a skill worthy of his liar of a master. Indeed, travelling with Cross had prepared him to talk his way out of nearly any situation and trying to soothe situations when Kanda had said something he shouldn't only polished those skills.

All the same, he needed to get rid of the uniform, as soon as he could. However, planning had to wait, because the food was served and he ate everything from his plate as slowly as he could force himself to, aware of the surprised and amused glances he was getting. He felt himself blush, but didn't stop eating, as though afraid it would disappear if he did. He could only hope it wasn't some sort of vivid dream.

'I'm sorry,' he said when he was done with the food. Nobody said anything, the others barely having started on their meal, and he felt like he needed to excuse himself some more. 'It's the most delicious food I have tasted in long, long time. Could I please have more?' he asked, blushing harder when the question slipped out. Pinako seemed pleased enough with the compliment though and served him another helping happily. 'I am very sorry to intrude upon you like that,' he added.

'It's not a problem,' said Winry. 'Nothing ever happens in Resembool. You're like the only entertainment we're going to get this week,' she added with a wicked smirk and Allen laughed. Pinako scolded her for being impolite, but Allen waved it off and told them that he used to work in a travelling circus and, if they wanted, he could show them some tricks. Luckily, this world also had travelling performers and the conversation from there on was easy. He got himself invited to stay over and he promised to help in the house in exchange.

In fact he wanted to start immediately and, forgetting the state of his arm, took off the gloves, immediately feeling four pairs of eyes trained on his blackened hand. With a wince and a blush, he started putting back the gloves before Edward stopped him by taking off his own glove, revealing a hand of metal. There were no words spoken, but Allen hasn't felt so welcomed even in the Black Order. Back there everybody understood and accepted his deformation, here there was somebody in a similar situation.

He did the dishes in the end, chatting with Winry, who was drying them as he washed. He found out that she was a mechanic who had made Edward's artificial arm. She didn't say what happened to the arm originally nor did she ask why Allen's arm was the way it was, for which he was grateful. They fell silent only when the phone rang and Allen saw Winry frown when Pinako told Edward it was for him.

'What's up general bastard?' the teenager asked as soon as he put the earphone to his ear, shocking Allen. Winry rolled her eyes, seemingly not surprised at all, although she still looked worried and Allen noted the title Edward had used to address the person on the other side. 'How did I know it was you? Only you would call me here, that's how,' Edward answered a question that was probably asked from the other side of the line. Then he went silent for a while, listening. Winry went back to drying the dishes with some sort of resignation and so Allen went back to washing them, glancing at her ever so often.

'Who are you calling so small that a beansprout is giant in comparison?' the teenager on the phone exclaimed suddenly, furiously. Allen nearly dropped the plate he was holding at the words, one particular stinging him like a needle. It brought memories of annoyance and a certain, insufferable Exorcist. If he died and went here, was Kanda also somewhere in this world? He had spent five days wondering, which was probably more time than he had thought about the other Exorcist since they have met. Lavi never came though, despite the thing in white clearly saying he would. Winry thought he had startled because of the scream and started apologizing for the outburst, snapping Allen out of his glum thoughts. He smiled, grateful but unable to tell her why.

'No, I understand,' he said, surprised at the bitter tone of his voice. 'I've been treated for a beansprout for a couple of years. It's very annoying,' he explained, trying to not be insulted by her giggle or the fact that she was taller than him. He wished he hadn't mentioned his old nickname, lest Winry decided it was good. He wasn't sure he could survive being called a beansprout again. Not only it was annoying, but it also brought memories.

'Whatever,' Edward said on the phone. 'I'll take the first train tomorrow,' he added and hung up. Allen saw Winry's face fall at the words. She went back to the dishes without a word though, as Allen heard Alphonse start a sentence that Edward cut short firmly. 'No, Al, you're not going this time,' he said. 'It's not a matter of discussion either, so you can drop it. The trip to the Central is not holidays and you know that half of the times it ends up in a mess. You need to get better first.'

'But it's taking forever,' the younger protested. Edward told him that it was nothing compared to four years with Truth and Allen frowned, but said nothing. It was not his business what happened to the brothers and definitely not his place to pry. 'What did general Mustang want?' Alphonse asked, apparently accepting Edward's decision. Allen noted the name and the fact that whoever the person was, he was probably a general. He wondered what the brothers could have to do with the military, because it sure did not sound like a family affair.

'Some top secret crap,' Edward replied with annoyance. He huffed. 'They caught somebody while doing the assessment exam, probably another asshole who thinks he can play god, if you ask me. Why the general bastard wants me there I don't know. He wouldn't say,' he added and huffed again. 'He thought it more productive to insult my height.'

'Everybody told you to drink more milk, brother,' said Alphonse in a teasing tone and Edward grimaced awfully, making Allen laugh. He wasn't the only one, he noted, which meant it must have been an old joke.

'In any case, I'm going to the Central tomorrow. I'll do my best to be back as fast as possible,' the older brother said with a sigh, ignoring the comment and the laughter that followed. Immediately the mood sobered.

They went to sleep not long after and, after the nights in the forest, Allen slept like a stone on the warm, soft bed. He didn't even remember his head touching the pillow and he remembered no dreams. Whether anything happened during the night, he slept right through it and he would have probably slept through the day if the smell of scrambled eggs and bacon did not wake him up. As he went downstairs a plan formed in his head and he offered his help in the house, as well as in protecting everybody while Edward was gone. He figured that time came to start a new life and Resembool was as good a place as any, if not better than most.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch 4

They were the new demons. God knows how they were made or what differed but they gleamed red, just like the level three that had approached the headquarters boldly one year earlier, carrying Kanda Yuu's dead body. It stopped in front of the gate, where alarms howled, and dropped its precious cargo, cackling with glee. Lavi watched the recording of that event many times, trying to see some sign of what was done to the demon to render it so powerful. He never managed but he remembered by heart how Kanda looked that day.

Even now, as he himself, together with the beansprout, faced two level twos that were gleaming red, he remembered the bloody, broken body, rolling in the dirt after being thrown by the demon. And the thought: "oh god I'm next" didn't leave his mind as the images of broken bones, sticking out of the bloodied, torn skin and deep gashes invaded his memory. He wished they hadn't. Even in that situation he preferred to see the gleaming demon than the hole in Kanda's chest, exactly where the tattoo had been.

He wasn't entirely correct: Allen went first and Lavi had the first row show that was a painfully uneven fight of reflexes. Crown Clown was amazing, as always, but the demon was just a fraction of a second faster, except for once and Allen managed to kill one of the demons. He immediately turned to the second who was weirdly inactive and engaged it in a fight, ignoring his injuries, as Lavi watched. He didn't see the first demon get up, cackling with glee, but Lavi did and he was too terrified by the implications to even scream a warning. How pathetic could he be?

Allen must have heard something, because he looked back for a split of a second and that was the end of him. Lavi might or might not have shouted when the red gleaming hand of the second demon crushed Allen's ribcage with a horrible sound of breaking bones. He attacked then, despair and fear filling his heart because he knew he stood no chance and-

Lavi woke up panting, drenched in cold sweat. He took in his surroundings and groaned softly, realizing that it was yet again the same nightmare. It was a good one also, managing to incorporate pieces of the previous nightmare that haunted him: Kanda's death. Or rather Kanda's last arrival to the headquarters, because nobody knew how exactly he had died. His wounds told a gruesome story, one that Lavi had been forced to memorize as part of being Bookman Junior. He grieved his friend for many days, much to Bookman's disapproval. When grief calmed he nearly freaked out because if Kanda fell then what chances did he stand?

A year, he thought miserably, it took a whole year for the Earl to send another red-gleaming demon and it was him and beansprout that got it. Demons that did not die when pierced through with Innocence, thought Lavi, fighting the nausea that threatened to overcome him at the very thought. He had to wonder whether the ability had been stolen from Yuu and that idea made it even worse.

He clasped a hand over his mouth and forced himself to breathe through his nose slowly. The Black Order truly stood no chance and Lavi couldn't even warn them. He felt utterly useless, but there was no point in dwelling on the fact. He was in another world, according to the weird creature he met, and there was no coming back, not one that would ensure he got back on time in any case, or wouldn't just stumble back on the two demons that had killed him.

The fight was a blur in his head. He had no idea what he did or how he died, but he did remember thinking he was dead when darkness surrounded him. He was rather disappointed at the uneventfulness of death and about to see if he could speak when the darkness erupted into blinding white that made him think to the Ark. For one, crazy moment he thought he'd see Allen and hear some explanation of how they had been saved by the Ark in the last moment, but there was no beansprout.

There was nothing for a long while, after which Lavi became aware of a door. It was a huge door and it tickled something in his memory, but he couldn't quite focus, too preoccupied by the sickening details of the door frame and then the insane view when it opened. Images upon images were melting together so fast that even his Bookman-trained eye couldn't register them all until he realized what they were: the world's history. He took an involuntary step back and the images shifted. He didn't know how he understood it, but he did and suddenly the history seemed completely unfamiliar. It was fascinating.

'Will you step through?' asked a voice to his left and Lavi jumped, turning to see a faint outline of a white figure against the white background. He frowned, trying to think if he ever heard about something that could resemble the thing, but he drew blank.

'What are you?' he asked back. The outline flinched, as though surprised. It had no features that Lavi could discern and by which he could judge its reactions. It was going to be annoying to talk with it, he supposed, but it wasn't as though he would jump through a door he didn't understand. The creature seemed to contemplate him before sitting down. Lavi sat down in front of it.

'You're a curious one,' it said. Lavi let the comment pass without any reply. 'I'm Truth,' it stated.

'Truth,' Lavi repeated and the creature nodded. He laughed sharply, perhaps a bit hysterically. 'You mean like the ultimate truth or something? There is no such thing, you know? The "truth" is written by those who win and conquer and it is their truth. So do you mean that you have the objective answers to all questions?' he asked.

'I am Truth,' the creature repeated. Lavi frowned. It didn't seem bothered by his rude outburst either, which was relieving, because he shouldn't have said it. He could only blame it on the stress of the last year and especially the mission. He decided to humour the creature and ask what was on the other side of the door. 'A world,' it said.

With effort, Lavi managed to get out of the creature a confirmation that he had died. In his world, it said. Normally that would have been the end of his story, only Innocence wanted him to live and the creature did say "Innocence" in a tone as though he knew what it was. So his Innocence brought him here and now Lavi had a choice: he could go on to live in another world or he could die. Again. Or something.

'Does everybody get that choice?' he asked, curious. The other world would sure have to be crowded and weird, people appearing at all ages. The creature shook its head and explained that out of his world only those who wielded Innocence could walk through the door and not all Innocence chose to take that path for it was risky. Lavi nodded, mentally noting the slight hesitation in the creature's voice when he spoke about the Innocence as a necessary factor to cross the door.

'What kind of world is it?' he asked.

'How many questions are you going to ask?' the creature asked back, sounding irritated. With a bright smile he informed it that he would as many questions as he thought were needed. 'It's just a world, like yours and like many others. There is no Innocence and there are no demons, if that is your interest. There is alchemy instead and alchemy is that world's key to this place, to me.'

'If I go I cannot turn back, right?' Lavi asked. The creature paused and Lavi imagined a look of annoyance on its blank face. He stifled a smile.

'You can die,' the creature said. 'If you gain alchemy powerful enough you might find me again, but don't think I'm sending you back to your own world. That is against the rules,' it added, sounding smug. Lavi pursed his lips. The choice wasn't difficult, really, because he did not want to die quite yet. Still, he hesitated, because he was a Bookman and it was in his training to not make decisions he could not back out of.

'Have you sent other Exorcists there?' he asked as the thought occurred to him. He saw Allen die in front of his eyes and Allen would always walk on, wouldn't he? Allen wouldn't think twice about crossing the door. He remembered Kanda's broken body, but it seemed more probable that Kanda would choose death rather than Innocence. The creature smiled and he imagined it to be mocking. 'Can I at least get some other clothes to go there? I'll need to blend in,' he said.

'For everything you get you need to give something of the same value,' the creature said. 'Such is the principle of alchemy, the Equivalent Exchange, and you go to the world of alchemy,' it added. Lavi smirked.

'You can have my clothes,' he pointed out. 'Except for the scarf, I want to keep the scarf,' he added. The creature said it was fair enough, sounding satisfied as though Lavi had passed a test, and so Lavi went through the door and his Exorcist uniform became dull and decoration-less, changing minutely to fit what he realized very fast was the style in the new world. Such was the beginning of his adventure. He got rid of his bandana and let his hair cover the eyepatch partly. He sold the piece of cloth and for the money he brought a meal and listened to the conversations around him.

Blending in was among the first skills Bookman had taught him and so Lavi had no problem to blend in, further protected by the anonymity of a big city. In five days he managed to get a job in a local bookshop, which suited him perfectly. Not only did it generate enough income for him to rent a small room, but also gave him plenty of opportunities to read up on the new world, creating his story as he went. Amestris was his new home, more precisely the Central City. In a day he learnt about the most recent history and politics and decided that he had arrived there from the East City, apparently the same as an illustrious Flame Alchemist.

He read up about the alchemists as well, successfully trying some simple transformations. He put it aside for later study and memorized the geography of Amestris and the important names, to make idle conversations, should he ever need to. By then he had already learnt to imitate the local accents well enough to not stand out and included some local slang into his vocabulary, although it took conscious effort to use it. Nobody would be able to tell that he wasn't originally from this world and he was proud of it.

On the sixth day in the new world, Lavi decided to have a lunch out, since the bookshop was anyway closed that day and the weather was as nice as it was the previous day. He bought a newspaper on the way, since on the free day he couldn't use the one that was always delivered to the bookshop. He found a small café that served simple and cheap meals and ordered something he had read was a local specialty. It turned out to be pretty good, although he wistfully remembered Jerry's cooking and the loud canteen. Here, everybody was calm and he was alone, with the newspaper as his only companion.

He tried to look out for Allen or, against all hope, Kanda, but the city was huge. Other than bumping into them by accident, he didn't see how he could find them, although he expected that if Kanda was around people would know. Possibly the news would also speak about a berserk alien, he thought with a soft chuckle, because Kanda had absolutely no diplomatic skills and no ability to blend in anywhere. Allen, now that would be trickier, because the kid has lived in the streets and then with Cross. Allen, Lavi supposed, could settle just as well as Lavi could and thus would pass more or less unnoticed, except for the white hair and the nasty scar.

No, he should not hope to see them, he knew. He chased the wistful thoughts out of his head and opened the newspaper randomly. He read a title, something about a State Alchemist being arrested the day before, but he was disturbed from continuing. The waitress came to ask if he wanted a coffee and he looked up to say that yes, indeed he wanted, but the words never left his mouth. Behind the girl, with whom he would normally try to flirt, he saw a familiar silhouette. He stared, transfixed, at the elegant, black redingote and the top hat, a feeling of panic growing steadily in the pit of his stomach. Truth said no Innocence and no demons, he thought desperately.

'Mister?' asked the waitress and Lavi looked at her, his eye wide. It took him a moment to realize who she was and what she wanted and he noticed her getting worried. Just then, he saw with the corner of his eye that the man in the redingote started to turn. Lavi saw the man's profile, confirming his worst fear and he panicked. He gave the waitress money, not caring that it was three times the worth of his meal, and left quickly, not looking back. His heart was hammering in his chest.

Only when he turned the corner did he stop, leaning against a dirty wall of the small alley. He tried to calm his breathing and heartrate, his fisted hand creasing the newspaper he still held. His thoughts were in complete chaos. There was no doubt, no mistake. Lavi didn't make mistakes in such simple matters as identifying a person and he had full trust in his eye. But he couldn't be there, could he? Truth had said "wielding Innocence" was a necessary condition for crossing the door! Did Truth lie?

He cursed and carefully looked around the corner, but the man in a top hat, and damn did he stick out from the crowd, was nowhere to be seen. He could be hiding, Lavi knew, but he had to take the chance. He went out and walked back to his rented room as fast as he could, constantly looking around and over his shoulder. Nobody followed him, but he arrived at the end of his nerves and he threw the newspaper in the corner, not in mood for reading anymore. He locked the door carefully and started pacing.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch 5

Walking into the office, Roy Mustang realized to which degree he has already gotten used to the presence of one Alma Karma at the new desk. Finding the young man missing felt weird and weirder yet when he thought about the circumstances that led to his absence from the office and the implications thereof. And he would have to explain it to the others sooner or later, he realized when his faithful officers didn't look back to their work after he greeted them. He owed them some explanation as to why he had brought Alma handcuffed to his office the previous day and who was the Xingese man that arrived with them.

He motioned for Hawkeye to wait, seeing that she wanted to tell him something. Her pale face worried him, because it was too much to be chalked on the fact that they had spent half of the night listening in on the two undying non-humunculi talking in a safe room they were put. They were clearly catching up, although Hawkeye insisted it could have been a code. When they finally fell asleep, without the fuss Mustang had foreseen over the fact that there was only one double bed in their room of reinforced concrete, Mustang called it a day and told Hawkeye to get some rest. Finding her already in the office didn't surprise him though.

'Officer Karma is currently under strict supervision as a consequence of his insubordination during the arrest of the Healing Alchemist,' Mustang announced, sticking to the official version in the beginning. He saw his men exchange glances, Hawkeye pursing her lips when they glanced her way as well. 'The Healing Alchemist is put on trial for human experimentation, as you might have heard already. The details are not given to the public. He used blood of a human, for the lack of better word, with extraordinary healing abilities to prepare his potions. It seems that Alma Karma has the same abilities and came to our team solely to retrieve his friend,' he elaborated tonelessly.

'How do you know?' Havoc asked. 'I mean the kid is such a sweetheart, he could hardly-'

'I saw him heal, Havoc,' Mustang cut the other mid-phrase. The memory made him shudder with dread. Truth be told, he had very nearly panicked when the Xingese man started moving, and at such a speed also. He saw the man heal a cut and then he saw him cut a head off without a flinch. He fully expected him to heal from whatever burns he might inflict and the man needed to be stopped. He lived a moment of terror when Karma jumped in front of the Xingese, shielding him with his own body from Mustang's fireball.

Not for the first time he wished there was a way to control the flames after he had released them, but it was wistful thinking. All he could do was wait for the impact, the moment of fire, which was meant to incapacitate the berserk man, and then to inspect the damage. It took a lot of courage to look at his officer he had burnt himself, but Alma Karma was standing, his outstretched arms trembling a bit and a grimace on his partly skinless face. His uniform was burned away, along with his skin on his arms and chest. As Mustang watched, the skin reappeared, slowly reknitting over the exposed muscle tissue and facial bones, hissing and smoking faintly. Then Alma Karma, the incriminating tattoo standing out on the unmarred skin of his chest, asked Mustang for understanding.

'For the moment, Karma is detained together with that friend of his, for whom he had risked being burnt,' he said in the silence that fell in the office after his brief description of the situation from the previous day. He saw Hawkeye's disapproval and he knew that the discussion of separating the two men would return to haunt him that day as well. 'They made some interesting claims that I need to verify before I decide what to do with them,' he added, this time not planning to elaborate on the details. In any case, his men should guess at the nature of those claims, since Mustang was having Fullmetal come over.

'Sir, they fought,' said Hawkeye in a strangled kind of tone. He didn't need an explanation as to whom she was talking about. He looked at her with wide eyes and repeated her words, incredulously. The previous evening Karma and the stranger seemed like best friends catching up. Hawkeye nodded and elaborated. 'I went to check on them before coming to the office and I got right on time to see Karma punch the other into the wall and he damned bounced off it. He used it to propel himself into an attack on Karma. I had the guards separate them, but they pushed the guards off as though they were flies. Then they stopped and looked around, at the devastated room, at the guards they had nearly absent-mindedly hit so hard the guards flew into the walls. They looked at each other and they started laughing.'

'Laughing?' Mustang repeated with a frown. Hawkeye nodded curtly.

'Yes sir. As they laughed I saw their bruises disappear. I had the guards leave and I locked the doors again, before they realized it was open, because I don't think we had anything that would stop them from leaving,' she said quietly. 'They are extremely dangerous, sir,' she added and in her eyes he could see that she was absolutely serious. Riza Hawkeye, the veteran of Ishval and a trained soldier was afraid of two twenty-year-olds.

'I will go there,' he decided. 'When Fullmetal arrives take him right to me and we're going to have a chat with those two,' he added and silenced all protests with an imperious glare he saved for occasions like that. Hawkeye pursed her lips in displeasure but saluted, so he rewarded her with a promise that he would stay in the observation room. The others just looked as he left and the door didn't even manage to close fully behind him, when a heated discussion started. He smirked: not much work would be done that day, he could bet.

First, Mustang went to check up on the guards who had tried to separate Karma and the other when they were fighting. Their injuries were not serious: some bruises, a couple of black eyes and general aches from landing on the walls or the floor. They looked sheepish enough, being so easily overpowered by two youngsters, so he spared them the lecture. Their story confirmed what Hawkeye said, not that he doubted her words. A fight broke up before Hawkeye arrived, they couldn't say why. They hesitated because the orders said to not interact with the detainees under any circumstances. They followed Hawkeye's orders and greatly regretted it.

Afterwards he went to the corridor outside the reinforced room where the two were held. There was a small, one way window protected by thick, metal crate and through it he looked in. The only signs of the fight were the broken bed and the damaged clothes, which the two detainees had been given the previous evening. Karma and the other man, Yuu Kanda, if Mustang remembered correctly, were sitting on the floor, propped against the wall, shoulders touching. Karma was speaking quietly, telling the other about the childhood in the Karma family in the outskirts of the Central City.

It gave him an idea and he went to call Havoc, asking the man to check Alma Karma's story to see if he had lied about his past. The officer acknowledged the task and informed him that Fullmetal was on his way, together with Hawkeye. Surprised, Mustang glanced at the clock nearby and realized that Edward must have really taken the first train out of Resembool. He wondered if it was the desire to get into action or rather to be back as fast as possible, before it occurred to him that maybe Edward just wanted him to pay the most expensive ticket. Ultimately it didn't matter.

What mattered was that Edward and Hawkeye were there and, after a short explanation of the situation, they entered the room. Karma and Kanda got up from the floor immediately, the latter's weary gaze studying all three of them while Karma put himself in front. He was a far cry from the cheerful, optimistic, slightly shy person Mustang knew from the office or even from Armstrong's group. Then again, he thought bitterly, that person might have been completely made up for the sake of worming his way into everybody's good graces. He had been awfully efficient also: it was simply impossible to dislike Alma Karma.

'Fullmetal, those are officer Alma Karma and Yuu Kanda,' he said officially. 'I present you Major Edward Elric the Fullmetal Alchemist, who is very interested to hear your story,' he introduced Edward, not missing a spark of recognition in Karma's eyes. Of course it was nothing surprising, because Fullmetal Alchemist was well known and well liked among the people of Amestris.

'Now, Fullmetal, why don't you transmute us some chairs. There's a broken bed you can use,' he added, noting the somewhat guilty expressions of Karma and Kanda, although the latter tried to hide it. He got himself a glare, after which Edward went up to the bed wordlessly. There was a clap, electric sparks that made Kanda literally jump in surprise and then the mattress was supported on four chairs in the corners. From the shocked expression on Kanda's face, Mustang deduced that it was the first time the man had seen something like that. Even Karma looked impressed and Mustang felt satisfaction at the show of power. Maybe those two could fight, but the alchemists were not defenceless.

'You're as talented as the stories have it,' said the young officer enthusiastically, a flash of the "normal" Alma behind the tense figure. The words visibly pleased Edward. 'Who is going to stand though?' Alma asked lightly. He tried to pretend to be ease with his current situation, but he did not move from his protective position between them and Kanda, which spoke louder than words.

'Fullmetal,' Mustang replied, smirking. 'Like that he'll be at the same level as the four of us,' he added maliciously, ignoring Hawkeye's disapproving "sir" that got nearly swallowed up in Edward's outburst of "who are you calling so small that he could sit on a chair made of splinters and it would be too big?" It made him chuckle until he noticed a gleam in Kanda's eyes and realized that he gave the stranger a fool proof weapon against the Fullmetal.

'I will stand, sir,' said Hawkeye calmly, cutting short any further argument. Mustang nodded, knowing she would stand anyway, since it gave her a better position should violence be required. She also subtly staged the situation, so that Mustang and Edward were right next to the door, for fast evacuation, while the two not-homunculi were as far as physically possible. From the looks she got, Mustang knew that her effort didn't go unnoticed and, predictably, Karma smiled softly, a barest trace of sadness in his expression. It was almost like he really cared what his previous colleagues thought of him, despite betraying them so easily.

'We don't wish to hurt you, or anybody else,' he assured them sounding sincere and just a little bit sad and Mustang saw Edward fidget. He, and Edward probably too, heard Hawkeye mutter something along the lines of "if you did it's not like we could do anything to stop you". Obviously Alma Karma did as well, because he glanced at her and nodded. 'We have been made stronger and more resistant than an average human,' he explained. 'I'm sorry if we scared you with our fight. We used to argue a lot back in the labs,' he added, earning a snort from Kanda. Edward fidgeted again. Alma smiled at him. 'You have a younger brother, you should know the feeling,' he said, for the moment sounding like his normal self. Edward looked at him in surprised.

'You are brothers?' he asked.

'Not in the traditional sense of the word I suppose,' Alma replied with a small shrug. 'We don't have any family, although there might be the same blood in our veins. I wouldn't know. I think of Yuu as my best friend and younger brother at the same time because he woke up after me in that horrible place and we had only each other. I will do everything I can to protect him,' he explained, glancing at Mustang at the end. It reminded Mustang so much of Edward and Alphonse that he had a hard time believing Alma didn't say it on purpose. An idea that he had mentioned Truth only to attract Fullmetal and gain his support with a cheesy story bloomed in his mind, but how would Alma Karma know about Truth?

'Don't be stupid,' Kanda protested grumpily, but Mustang had no doubt that he would also do everything he could to protect Alma. He suddenly felt guilty for keeping them locked up and had to remind himself that they might turn out to be homunculi, even though he believed it less and less. Could Edward come up with a way to check they weren't? They could hardly cut them open to see whether there was a Philosopher's Stone gathered somewhere in their bodies, even if they would heal. He still remembered the wince of pain on Karma's face after he had been burned with Mustang's own fireball. Whatever made them heal did not spare them the pain.

'Let's get straight to business,' Mustang said firmly. 'Yesterday Karma said he had met Truth. Can you repeat what you saw in the white place for Major Elric to hear?' he requested, deciding to start with the easiest part. He was pretty sure Edward would agree with him that their story was real, but he needed to go through the farce, so that they don't realize the real reason why he had called upon the only person who could count as a specialist in terms of Philosopher's Stone and homunculi.

The words were enough to snap Edward's attention away from the tragic fate of the two in front of them. His attention was solely on Alma, who described the featureless room and the outline of a creature with as many details as possible. It was easy, he said, because there were not many details to remember, except for the door and that he still saw in his nightmares sometimes, despite ten years having passed. Edward asked sneaky questions, but Alma always had the right answer, as though he really saw Truth.

'Interesting,' Edward said finally. 'There are some theories about parallel words,' he informed Mustang and Hawkeye. 'Although of course nobody treats them seriously, because really: different worlds? How crazy would that be? But if it was true it wouldn't surprise me if Truth was guarding that gate as well. There seems to be no limit to Truth's power,' he added and shrugged before turning to Kanda. 'If you are from the other world then you too must have passed by Truth, right? What did he tell you?' he asked. Kanda gave him a blank stare and Edward started to rephrase the question when the Xingese look-a-like snapped.

'I understood you the first time,' he said coldly. Mustang found it equally amusing and disturbing how he reminded him of Edward's rudeness, while Alma Karma was the same soothing presence as Alphonse. 'It didn't say anything to me, because I cut its head off before it could speak,' he added, sounding at the edge of his patience, when Edward prompted him to answer. Mustang stared. So did Edward. After a moment Alma burst out laughing, earning himself a withering glare from Kanda. Mustang could only stare in stunned amazement.

'I think I didn't understand,' Edward said slowly, after a long moment. 'Are you saying you beheaded Truth?' he asked. Kanda's glare redirected from Alma to Edward, accompanied by a grumpy "are you deaf or what?"

'Typical Yuu, always so violent,' said Alma with the kind of adoration Mustang did not associate with brotherly relationship. It earned him another glare, while Mustang and Edward still tried to process the information Kanda had given them. Unfortunately, it didn't seem probable that Truth stayed dead after something as minor as a cut of a sword. The damned creature probably just attached its head with a cackle.

'What is your damned problem?' Kanda asked Alma angrily. 'I was just killed by a mere level three and some stupid, meat-eating butterflies. You don't think I was in a mood to talk with some midget shadow, do you?' Kanda asked in a hiss. That was enough to shut Alma up, making Kanda look almost guilty, but it triggered another issue.

'Who are you-'

'Not you,' Mustang cut Edward's annoyed question firmly. 'He was not talking about you,' he repeated firmly, forcing himself to not react to the pout on the teenager's face. He didn't want to get distracted, as amusing as it was to see Fullmetal rage about his height otherwise. He noted what he didn't understand for a later questioning and turned to Kanda. 'And then?' he asked. An ugly grimace twisted Kanda's pretty face.

'Then I went through the door that was there and I fell,' Kanda said tonelessly. 'I don't know how far, but far enough to break too many bones to move and anyway I hit my head, so I must have gotten a serious concussion at least. There was that thin creep. He spoke to me when I regained consciousness and injected me with some sedative before I could pick myself up. The next time I woke up, I was strapped to a bed, healing after he cut me open. He seemed to be caught off guard by it. You know the rest of the story,' he finished bitterly, looking straight at Mustang.

An uncomfortable silence fell in the room. He had to look away from the burning, dark gaze, because indeed he knew the rest of the story. It was a year of being used for experiments and Mustang would not wish such a fate upon anybody. Behind him, Hawkeye shifted and he wondered if it bothered her as much as it bothered him. Edward, having been briefed on the circumstances in which they found Kanda, swallowed thickly. Alma pursed his lips, eyes flashing with a promise of revenge on the Healing Alchemist, which was one reason to not let him out.

Of course he could ensure Alma Karma's good behaviour by holding Yuu Kanda locked up and that was what he planned to do anyway. He couldn't afford the rumour of officer Karma's arrest to leak out or else the information about his healing abilities would be compromised. And that was not acceptable. Mustang already had a plan for the nearest future. He always had a plan. He was going to have Edward work with Kanda on proving that neither were homunculi. Once that was done, and he knew the teenager would do everything to not inflict pain, he would work on incorporating two undying soldiers into his faithful group. Others, who would be attracted by the prospect of getting back the magical, healing potion, would not be so kind. He only wished Karma, Kanda and Edward would understand his reasoning when he would break the news to them.


	6. Chapter 6

Ch 6

It took him the whole afternoon to calm down, which was not at all how a Bookman should be but screw the Bookmen, because they were not around damn it and he was on his own. With his meagre Exorcist skills he was completely on his own. If either Allen or Kanda had crossed to the same world, they were not around to save him. It was insane how much he depended on those stronger than him to protect him before. Not that he was a bad Exorcist, but he lacked Allen's conviction and sacrifice, which was obvious, him being a Bookman and all that. He lacked also Kanda's force and healing abilities, which was yet more obvious, him being just a regular human.

A regular human trained in espionage. He held onto that thought once he calmed down, and he started planning because that was something he was good at. He dyed his hair boring brown the day after he saw Tyki Mikk out in the street, to not draw attention with its bright red. He got himself a white, medical eye patch that could suggest, to a casual eye, that he had merely hurt himself. He fretted over his clothes before realizing that they had nothing to do with Bookman Junior. He couldn't change his name anymore, unless he moved out of the Central City and he wasn't quite ready to do that, still hoping that Allen might turn up. He cursed his own laziness that made him only add Martel as the family name to complete "Lavi".

Of course all that wouldn't fool anybody who would really be looking for him. Lavi Martel was just a flimsy construction, not a real, new persona but Mikk didn't look like he was searching for anything and the superficial changes to his looks should make a casual observer's eye slide away. He hoped. He had considered leaving his hammer behind previously, knowing that the pull of Innocence was the surest way to identify him as an Exorcist if not immediately as Lavi, but now he definitely did not want to be completely defenceless before a Noah.

Not that he stood a chance, he thought miserably every time the idea occurred to him. Kanda could maybe fight Tyki Mikk, Allen probably would win, if only because he was too stubborn to die, but Lavi? He only ever synchronized with his Innocence to the point when it was comfortable to use it, as Bookman had instructed him. He barely managed a level three on his own on a bad day. His only consolation was that Tyki wouldn't have crossed the door for Lavi only. Allen, who seemed to be the only one whom the Noah were interested, had to be somewhere around.

He could only hope that fate would smile upon him and send him a trace to find Allen, or Kanda, although he didn't think the latter was really possible. Even if the swordsman had crossed to the next world, knowing that it was the Innocence's choice, he would have holed himself up over the year that has passed since his death. Or Lavi would have already read in the news about him, something along the lines of "a berserk swordsman strikes again in retaliation for being called pretty". No, decidedly Allen was his safer bet and so Lavi kept a lookout for anybody who could have resembled the beansprout.

Nobody presented themselves the following working day and Lavi spend the whole of his time reading up on what was left of Amestris' history, before turning to the more general history books, surprisingly much less abundant in the shop. He was halfway through an exhaustive book on the history of alchemy throughout the countries, idly wondering if he could use any of the alchemy to fight Tyki and gain upper hand, when the owner of the bookshop turned up. Shocked, he slammed the book in its place and ran to the front of the shop, excusing himself profoundly.

'No need to worry,' the old man said good-naturedly. 'My customers are few and far between, and they have patience enough for a young apprentice who is eager to read the books,' he explained with a fond smile on his wrinkled face. 'What were you reading? You were a Bookman once, were you not?' he asked casually and Lavi froze. He looked at the old man carefully, but there was none of old panda's cold and sharpness in his eyes. Yet surely Lavi heard him mention the coven by name and few knew it if they didn't belong to the organization.

'I was reading the history of alchemy, but don't know what you're talking about,' he said finally, managing to keep his voice even and just vaguely curious. He was sure to be convincing enough but the man snorted.

'You can keep that for the others, apprentice. I was once like you, until I decided that a wife and children were worth more than recording history,' he said. Lavi was speechless. 'I haven't progressed much into my apprenticeship, but enough to recognize the way you read and more than enough to know that you are hiding,' he added. Well fuck, Lavi thought, but let the man continue, since he seemed particularly talkative. 'Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I employed you because I saw the way you looked at the books. You will take good care of them and that is all I care about. However, if you need more information than my bookshop can give you, you should try to gain access to the archives,' he said.

'The archives?' Lavi repeated questioningly. The old man nodded.

'I don't have much information on alchemy, except for its history, and alchemy is the key to understanding Amestris as you well know. The First Branch of the National Central Library contains the best compendium of alchemical knowledge and the archives of the scientific notes of all the alchemists,' he said. Lavi noted that for further reference, although nothing explained why the man was helping him. He supposed something of his doubts showed on his face, because the man continued, explaining: 'I might have forsaken my path as a Bookman, but if this is your first mission, and I see no other explanation, since you are alone, then I want to give you all my help. It is a difficult job to be a Bookman.'

If only he knew the truth! Not that Lavi was going to enlighten him if he wasn't trained enough to see for himself. His training as Bookman had taught him how to play into fate's hands and this help he could not have anticipated was exactly what he needed. He got the address of the First Branch out of the old man and, at the first opportunity, went there, mindful to not cross Tyki Mikk.

The First Branch was restricted access.

He hadn't expected that and he cursed the old man for not telling him. Then again: what else could he had expected from a Bookman apprentice, no matter what he said about leaving the trade? He would have done the same, should somebody come sniffling around the Black Order, but it didn't make the disappointment any easier to deal with. The lady at the entrance was as stiff as they came, not reacting to his best attempts at charming her into gaining access and he was ready to go back when a voice behind him spoke up.

'He's with me,' said somebody and Lavi literally jumped around to face a golden-haired teenager. He looked to be Allen's age and a bout of homesickness threatened to overcome Lavi for a split of a second, but it was abruptly strangled, when the teenager looked up at Lavi and he saw the golden eyes watching him carefully. He held the gaze, memorizing the face, while the lady at the entrance jumped up and saluted. Impressive, he thought and let his surprise show on his face as the woman apologized for retaining Lavi and they went in.

'It's only for today, so make the best out of it,' the teenager said once they were out of her hearing range. It occurred to Lavi that the boy, having access, must be State Alchemist, because he couldn't be a lieutenant of the army. 'It closes at eight in the evening and it will be better for you to leave before or you risk arrest for illegally entering,' the boy added. Lavi frowned.

'Why are you helping me?' he asked. 'You have no idea who I am and aren't you going to get in trouble?' he added, glancing at the teenager's companion. Taller and older, probably around Lavi's age, the young man in Amestrian military blue uniform looked at him without much interest. Lavi memorized the man's features as well, the curious, horizontal scar that ran across his nose and the brown eyes that were hiding worry and fear behind the mask of professional indifference. Curious, he thought, and weirdly, vaguely familiar.

'Officer Karma is not going to say anything,' the teenager replied with confidence, following Lavi's gaze to the man before returning the unsettling golden eyes to look at Lavi. The officer looked away from the two of them. 'So you don't need to worry as long as you don't stumble upon the librarian on your way out. There should be nobody in the alchemy section except for me and I haven't seen you here,' the kid added with a snort.

'Thank you-' Lavi started and hesitated over the name. The teenager introduced himself as Ed. 'Lavi,' he said, extending his hand and smiling. The officer looked at him sharply and it took all of Lavi's self-control to not react in any way as Ed shook his hand and wished him good luck, oblivious of the officer's sudden interest. With a bright smile, Lavi wished him the same, ignoring the careful look officer Karma was giving him. Should he know the man? There was something familiar about him, but he was sure they had never met.

They parted ways and very soon Lavi realized the impossibility of the task he set for himself: to read through the alchemical archives. It wasn't even the difficulty or the fact that they were in different languages, no it was the sheer size. The archives were repartitioned into three, large halls, full to the brim with shelves going from the floor to the ceiling. Two of the halls were completely filled with texts, while the third one was half full and it was where Ed and his guard went.

He quickly realized that the texts were ordered first by decade and then by author's name, but that didn't help much because he didn't even know what he was looking for. It was a shot in the dark and, unless his luck would continue, it would be a waste of time. Instructive and fascinating, because alchemy was like that, but a waste of time nonetheless. He skimmed through some works written in languages similar enough to the ones he knew, realizing that they were coded, which crushed any hopes he might have had on getting something out of the trip.

For the lack of better ideas, he sneaked into the third hall, making sure to not be noticed by the teenager, who seemed to know what he was looking for, or by the guard, who was looking away. If he was not going to learn anything from the books then maybe he could hear something interesting from the conversations. Or, at the very least, maybe he could remember when and where he saw a man with such a characteristic scar on his nose. He didn't like not knowing something and for the life of him, he couldn't remember.

'You better sit,' Ed said at some point, sounding much friendlier towards the officer than he had with Lavi listening.

'Thank you, major Elric,' said the officer tersely and immediately Lavi knew that he had never talked with the man. Just like he remembered all the faces with all their details, he remembered all the voices. A Bookman remembered everything and, even though the officer sounded particularly tense, he would have recognized that voice. Especially, he thought, since the officer spoke with a local accent and there was no way Lavi would forget anybody with whom he had talked during his short stay in Amestris. It brought an additional complication in the fact that Lavi couldn't have seen him in the last couple of days or he would have immediately remembered the circumstances.

'Please call me Edward, Alma,' the alchemist said. Lavi noted his full name and added officer Karma's name to the mental file he was trying to compile of the man. 'We're on the same side here, you know,' Edward added. Lavi raised an eyebrow at the curious choice of words. The State Alchemists were part of the military, so how could there even be a doubt of them being on the same side?

'I wonder how you figure that one out,' said Alma Karma bitterly. The alchemist started replying but Lavi didn't hear what he said, because something clicked in his head: Alma! It was a female name and that alone should have pointed Lavi towards the right direction, because there was ever only one man, or a boy rather, whom Lavi had heard of, being named that. He nearly forgot to breathe as his perfect memory produced an image of a photo he had once seen in the Black Order's restricted archives.

On the photo, a group of scientists was posing proudly with two boys, Yuu and Alma. Back when he had seen it, Lavi paid more attention to Yuu, whom he knew as Kanda Yuu the short-tempered, foul-mouthed, excellent Exorcist. Nevertheless, he had memorized the features and the dark, messy hair of the other boy, dead by Kanda's unwilling hand. Alma had a curious, since it wasn't removed by his healing seal, horizontal scar running across his nose. His file gave him brown eyes, which fitted as well.

If he had lived, Alma would have been Lavi's age exactly, officially one year older than Yuu, since he woke up the year before. If it really was him, he would have been ten years in Amestris, which should be enough to gain a local accent. Everything fit the picture and it took all of Lavi's self-control to not betray his presence and identity. He knew Alma but Alma wouldn't know him and talking about their world of origin was out of question in the presence of a State Alchemist or indeed any citizen of Amestris.

'Besides, if you think that I'm happy about this situation, you can think again,' Edward was saying angrily and Lavi cursed himself for missing the beginning of his rant. 'If you really wanted the situation solved you would have answered my questions,' he added. There was a moment of silence, in which Lavi held his breath to not be heard.

'I don't see your general taking my word on the matter, even if I knew how we were made in details enough to satisfy your curiosity. I told you already everything I know and I have no idea how they made us immortal,' Alma replied quietly. It was audibly difficult for him to talk about the lab and Lavi heard Edward apologize. 'I also told you that I never left the lab, so I have no idea if something like alchemy existed in the world and whether there was any Philosopher's Stone around,' Alma added, a trace of anger in his voice.

I know, Lavi thought, I know all the answers to those questions. He couldn't admit it though, not until he was sure of the situation. Alma spoke in plural and the only other Second Exorcist ever created was Kanda. Logically it meant that Kanda was somewhere around and Lavi would have danced in joy if only he wasn't so worried. Edward was clearly investigating the two and Kanda's absence could only be explained by the fact that he was being held hostage, probably by the military. It would also explain Alma's idea that he and Edward were not on the same side.

Furthermore, the Philosopher's Stone, according to the tales of his world, was supposed to give immortality. If it was somewhat connected to Edward's investigation then it was obvious Alma's, and Kanda's if he really was there, secret was out. The military would not easily let go of such a prize if it was anything like the militaries Lavi was familiar with. If Lavi manifested himself and his knowledge of the process used to make the two, he would only become another hostage or tool.

'Right,' Edward muttered, audibly ill at ease with the topic. 'I still need to figure out how to prove you are not homunculi, even though general bastard surely believes you are not. He wouldn't let you out, no matter the blackmail, if he thought you were a homunculus. We had some really bad experiences with them, you know,' he added. Finally Lavi had something to do: find out about homunculi and how they differed from Second Exorcists. Quietly, he left, hoping to catch the other two later and follow them to wherever they lived.


	7. Chapter 7

Ch 7

In reality, he only had himself to blame for the current situation. He should have known, should have remembered to never trust authority, but he didn't want to leave. The Central felt like home, after nearly all of his conscious life spent there, and he wanted to stay so he stifled the instinct that told him to join Yuu and fight their bloody way out of the lab building. He knew they would have made it, because they were fast, strong and nearly immortal. They would steal Mustang's car and drive it away, abandon it and go somewhere else. By this time they would have been out of reach for the military, but no. Alma Karma, the ever naive optimist, decided to trust Roy Mustang's reputation.

Look where it got them, he thought bitterly, watching Fullmetal Alchemist talk on the phone with his younger brother. The day was almost over and Alma has had more than enough of boredom for the week and knowing he needed to follow the teenager the following day as well was nearly as bad as knowing that he would soon be deposited back in the cell where Yuu was kept. Oh, they did not call it a cell and it sure was comfortable, with a replaced bed and a small bathroom, but it was a cell nevertheless. And it was his fault that Yuu was kept there.

'Better tell me how are things in Resembool,' Edward said to the phone. It was clear that he wished to be with his brother, who was recovering from four years of being a walking armour, whatever that meant. Mustang's team was closely connected to the Elric brothers and they sometimes commented on the situation, but never clearly enough for Alma to understand what had happened. The only thing he knew was that it ended with a happy ending and that Mustang had been important in helping them out. Bitterly, Alma wished that Mustang's helpfulness hadn't run out.

'It seems like Allen has some really good ideas Al, you should listen to him,' Edward replied after a moment of listening. Alma sighed and tried to find something to think of, ideally something that will not lead to him being angry at himself or bitter, because that was also tiring. Watching Fullmetal Alchemist work was surprisingly dull and, surrounded by books he wouldn't understand, Alma had nothing better to do than to think.

For a good while, the Lavi person occupied his thoughts. Yuu has told him about a Lavi, who was an annoying, redhead Exorcist with an eyepatch on his right eye. The name wasn't all that common and, even if the Lavi they met had brown hair, Alma knew it wasn't all that hard to dye hair. And Lavi from earlier did have an eyepatch on his right eye. It made him wonder whether all Exorcists came to Amestris when they died in the other world.

Then again, it didn't matter. Lavi never knew Alma or that he even existed, which meant that he wouldn't recognize him. Alma, on the other hand, was closely supervised now and could not try to find or meet the other, risking another Exorcist to be arrested. He couldn't even tell Yuu that he met somebody he might know, because he wasn't sure whether they were being observed. Or rather, he knew they were. Maybe not all the time, but he had no way of knowing when and anyway, what would it mean for Yuu to know that somebody else is out there and unable to help them? Because Lavi was just a human and there was no way a human would get through all the guards that stood between Yuu and the exit of the building.

'Yeah, I'll stay a while more. Tell Winry I'm sorry,' Edward said in the phone, before saying good bye and hanging up with a heavy sigh. Alma pursed his lips. In other circumstances, he would probably feel bad for Edward, being forced to stay apart from those he cared about, but as things were, he felt entitled to drown in self-pity. Edward turned to him with a grim expression. 'One more stop before we call it a day,' he said, making Alma wince. It was the part of the day he despised the most because it reminded him of his stupidity, but there was no choice. Quietly, he followed the alchemist to Mustang's office.

He ignored the glances he got from the officers he worked with mere five days earlier. People outside Mustang's office really didn't know anything and Alma found it extremely difficult to pretend it was so, but those closest to the general were obviously informed. It has been fun, to work there, and they were good men who now thought badly of him, but he regretted nothing. Except for having trusted Mustang, of course. He could still clearly see the resigned, haunted look in Yuu's eyes when Yuu told him to do as Mustang said and pretend nothing happened while Yuu was kept locked up as leverage and, although Mustang said nothing of that, a potential lab rat. The very possibility chilled Alma to the bone and he knew that it was one of the reasons why Yuu wasn't able to rest properly and regain his strength.

It was a statement of the distrust Mustang's team had towards him when Hawkeye entered Mustang's office with Alma and Edward, her hand on her gun, ready to draw. It was tempting to test her resolve. Mugen, Yuu's katana, was resting on the small table in the office. He could grab it and pave his bloody way to the cell, only Mustang surely had a way to alert the guards there before Alma got there, assuming that Hawkeye didn't shot to kill. She probably would, if her reputation was anything to go by and that one was easier to trust than Mustang's.

'You're late, Fullmetal,' said Mustang instead of a greeting. Alma could swear he heard Edward's teeth grit together, but the blond said nothing. 'Does it mean you made any progress?' Mustang asked. Edward literally shook in barely contained anger, although Alma wasn't sure what its cause was. It couldn't be just the smug tone of the general, who must have known no progress has been made. Already that was pretty irritating, but Alma had a feeling he didn't know the whole story, which wouldn't be all that surprising. After all, despite Edward's stubborn assurances that they were not enemies he was no longer their ally. He was a traitor and Mustang didn't take lightly to traitors.

'You know very well that you sent me on a wild goose chase,' the alchemist said through gritted teeth. Alma frowned. 'I need at least something as a starting point, or else I have for years of reading and I refuse to spend years on that. I have other things to do,' he added, his tone betraying that he meant his words. Mustang frowned as well.

'Don't forget that you answer to my orders Fullmetal,' he said. 'You might be small enough to be overlooked by other generals, but I-'

'Who are you calling so small that he can hide behind a ballpoint pen's tip?' Edward exclaimed, making Alma literally jump in surprise. Did the kid do it every time somebody called him short? What kind of frustration and complexes did he hide behind that brilliant mind of his? Mustang's smug expression seemed to say that indeed, it was a safe bet to rile Fullmetal up like that and Alma wondered why he did it. It seemed awfully inefficient, not to mention rude.

'Grow up, Fullmetal. And remember that you are not the only one losing time over the possible threat that could undo everything we have worked on so hard for years. I could just as well be in a bar now, chatting up some beautiful women and I would much rather do that than wait here for your report,' the general said, sounding nearly like a pouting child. Alma blinked at the sudden change of attitude, but it was gone before he could fully register it. 'As for your search, try ten years ago in Central. There was an alchemist living in the eastern district, known for his rather questionable research. His name was Derryl Darwis,' he suggested. It took Alma a moment to realize why the name sounded familiar.

'Was?' Edward asked doubtfully.

'You bastard,' Alma growled. Derryl Darwis was a friend of his foster father, who had died a year ago, roughly. 'My foster parents have nothing to do with this. They are just a kind couple who took in a completely messed up kid, they don't deserve to be investigated by your stupid military,' he half said, half shouted. Mustang seemed unperturbed and Alma was unpleasantly reminded of his own protests against Yuu being held locked up while Alma followed the Fullmetal Alchemist on his quest. He had failed back then as well.

'That is what you said,' Mustang agreed. 'Maybe you even believe it and let's say that I believe you, even though you managed to lie to me already. But what if it's just something they told you? Isn't it a convenient coincidence that the Healing Alchemist found your "brother" more or less at the same time as Derryl Darwis died? Seeing Yuu Kanda in action I wouldn't put it past him to kill one man and escape,' he suggested. Alma recoiled, as though physically slapped. He didn't like at all what Mustang was suggesting.

'What of my memories from before? Do you think I could have invented the Black Order and their fight against demons?' he asked as the thought occurred to him. 'Do you think I would want to? You cannot think that I would invent the synchro-testing just for the sake of it or-' he stopped, catching himself right on time. They didn't really tell Mustang that he had slaughtered the whole personnel of the Sixth Lab, nor did they tell him what exactly Innocence was and how it looked like. He couldn't betray that he had a deadly weapon on him permanently, even if he hadn't tried to use it since that horrible massacre.

'Have you ever seen a demon?' Mustang asked back with perfect calm, seemingly ignoring the awkward end of Alma's rant. Alma blinked. He has never seen a demon. He believed in them, because if there were no demons than the whole of his and Yuu's suffering was for nothing. They had to exist and Yuu told him they did, they had killed him. Yet Mustang looked like he won. 'What if this whole story was invented by somebody?' he asked. It was a horrifying thought.

'Why?' Alma asked back weakly. Mustang shrugged and asked Alma what he knew about Derryl Darwis. He shook his head. 'I knew that he was an alchemist. He was my foster father's friend and he visited regularly,' he paused. 'He made toys for me. And anyway, like you said, he died a year ago, but you're wrong. It was a heart attack, so Yuu had nothing to do with it, no matter what you say,' he added firmly, glad that he remembered the small fact.

'Have you seen the body?' Mustang asked again, his tone firm. Alma shook his head, a horrible doubt blooming in his head. He denied it fiercely. Never did he put any doubts in his memories, rather cherishing the short time he had spent with Yuu, his light in the darkness. He never hoped to see Yuu again, knowing that it meant Yuu would have died in the other world and he wanted Yuu to live long and happy. He heard Yuu tell him about his life also and it wasn't as happy as Alma would have wished for, but it was a good life, with friends. Surely Mustang didn't think that all those memories were fabricated as well. The idea made Alma sick.

'You are not suggesting that some alchemist could not only create evolving homunculi but also plant memories in their heads, are you?' Edward said slowly. 'You are out of your mind, general bastard and I'm not going to play part in this cheap drama you're creating. Once there was somebody who tried to convince Al that he had been invented, but it's bullshit. I checked afterwards. Besides you know that-'

'Fullmetal,' Mustang said harshly. Edward recoiled as though slapped. 'Tomorrow you will investigate the house of Derryl Darwis. As far as I understood it is empty. Officer Karma will not accompany you anymore, to not create unhealthy rumours in the neighbourhood. You will report to me with your findings and we will see how to proceed,' he ordered. 'Hawkeye, please escort officer Karma to his cell, while I discuss some things Fullmetal seems to have forgotten,' he added.

Alma didn't try to protest, mulling over the ideas of reality and memories Mustang had. He went in front of Hawkeye, who refused to have him behind her back, without any hesitation or emotions. The idea that his life might have been a lie left him completely empty of energy or will and he couldn't even find it in himself to worry that they might separate him and Yuu.

They didn't. He heard the guard tell Yuu to stand back, then the door was opened and Alma was ushered in, the door slamming loudly behind him the very second that he was through. It would have been funny how afraid they were of the two of them if Alma had any strength to laugh. As it was, he only looked at the long-haired man in front of him, remembering the boy who had woken up in a birthing pit ten years ago. Did that really happen? Yuu wouldn't lie to him, would he?

'What happened?' Yuu asked when Alma didn't speak or smile as he usually would.

'What if everything is a lie?' Alma asked back quietly. Yuu frowned, obviously confused by the question, so Alma elaborated: 'What if the Sixth Lab was just a lie and there are no demons and no Innocence? What if we are those homunculi things, created by some crazy alchemist?' he asked, eyes filling with unwanted tears as speaking the words out loud made it seem more probable. It seemed much more logical than them coming from a different world where they were to fight some improbable war. Yuu, however, looked angry, a bit like he did in the beginning, when Alma tried to talk with him, to make friends. If that was what really had happened.

'Is that what they told you?' Yuu asked quietly, his tone cold and carefully controlled. Alma winced and admitted that Mustang suggested the possibility. Yuu scowled darkly at his words. 'It's easy to disprove, but if I'm right then we're leaving. I've had just about enough of this place and I didn't find you after all those years to lose you again. I'd rather die,' he stated firmly. 'Invoke your Innocence,' he ordered. Alma looked at him shocked.

'No, if they're watching-' he started.

'They will not live to tell the tale,' Yuu cut him firmly. Alma could see that he was serious also. He seemed to believe completely in their memories, but he didn't know the power of the alchemists. Alma did. He could hardly find it in himself to think that implanting memories was not possible, but really, what did he have to lose? He asked how to invoke the Innocence, but Yuu told him that he knew and to focus.

So focus Alma did. He followed the soft voice of Yuu, telling him to close his eyes and breathe in slowly. Then to breathe out and calm down. He listened to Yuu describe his Innocence exactly as Alma remembered it and he wanted to see it again. He wanted his memories to be true, they had to be true and if they were then his Innocence- Pain tore a surprised shout out of his mouth and when he opened his eyes, curved blades were growing out of his right arm and there was no blood. He looked at Yuu, who smiled at him ever so slightly.

He smiled back. That was Innocence alright. His Innocence, with which he had massacred the Sixth Lab and, although he didn't fully regret it, he knew they didn't fully deserve it either. It was his Innocence, with which he would now massacre the Amestrian military, should they stand on his way. The door would be no barrier and neither would be the guards, he knew without even testing it.

'I need to get Mugen back,' Yuu said calmly. Alma nodded.

'It's in Mustang's office,' he said, making Yuu wince slightly. It would be messy, he knew. Maybe he would even have to kill the people with whom he had worked. The thought made him sad, but there was no alternative anymore. They had followed his plan and it failed them, so they would now follow Yuu's plan and see where they would get. And once they were out of the building they would find Lavi. Alma smiled. 'Let's escape together to somewhere they cannot find us,' he said, echoing the words from the past. It couldn't be a lie.

'Lead the way,' Yuu replied with a nod. The door gave way with one slash of the impressive blades and the guards stood no chance. They fell to the ground dead before they had the time to fully turn around to face them. Alma shuddered at his own actions, but Yuu pulled him along, saying they had no time to waste. The faster they moved the fewer men Alma would have to kill before they got Mugen and got out and the faster Yuu could get the rest he needed.

Suddenly the building shook with an explosion that sounded like it happened near them. They barely kept their footing. The lights flickered as they exchanged weary looks, worry creeping into Yuu's expression. The second explosion was even closer and send them crashing to the floor as walls and ceiling at the far end of the corridor caved in. Something, a grotesque face of what must have been a giant, looked into the corridor from the side. In the flickering light it gleamed faint red. It emanated a malevolent kind of energy that Alma has never felt and wished never to feel again.

'We have to run, Alma,' Yuu said very quietly. When Alma looked at him he saw pure terror on Yuu's face. 'We need to be faster than it and I need to get Mugen if we're supposed to stand a chance,' Yuu continued. The creature smiled, showing too many teeth. 'It's the demon that killed me.'


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry for the wait.

* * *

Ch 8

Already the first explosion gave him a suspicion of what was going on, but he desperately wanted to deny it. He couldn't anymore, when the second explosion opened the end of the corridor and the huge, disfigured face, faintly glowing red looked in. The face was uncomfortably familiar, threatening to refresh the bad memories dulled by the year of sickening monotony. He really didn't want to be afraid but that face was the last thing he had seen before dying for real and even he had some difficulties to disregard that fact. For the first time in many years, Kanda Yuu was afraid.

'We have to run, Alma,' he said as loudly as he dared. The last thing he wanted was for the demon to notice them, even if he knew it was inevitable. He saw, with the corner of his eye, Alma look at him, but he dared not look away from the demon, trying to fight the growing terror. 'We need to be faster than it and I need to get Mugen if we're supposed to stand a chance,' he added, knowing all too well that he was not at the top of his game. Now, however, he knew the secret: the demon did not die. If they were two, even in his weakened state and Alma's inexperience, maybe they could test it. If there were not the butterflies, maybe they could make it. The demon saw them and smiled gleefully, too many teeth showing. Kanda's breath hitched. 'It's the demon that killed me,' he told Alma, because Alma needed to know.

'Let's go,' Alma exclaimed when the face disappeared. They scrambled to their feet just as a huge fist, glowing red, shattered a part of the building closer to them. The floor trembled under their feet, but they managed to keep their balance and go on. They ran as fast as they could, stumbling every time, when the demon pounded the building, crashing a portion of the corridor closer and closer to them.

His fear was forgotten, the survival instinct kicking in with the force Kanda had never experienced before. Then again, never before did he honestly consider his life threatened. Even in his previous fight with the very same demon, he didn't realize until it was too late that he was going to die and even then that only happened when he realized the carnivore butterflies could eat his body faster than he could regenerate, rendering him incapable of fighting. He mainly blamed the butterflies for his death, or at least that was what he told himself now, before pushing even that in the back of his mind, focusing on keeping up with and following Alma through the trembling building.

The advantage was that, in the ensuing panic, nobody tried to stop them and Kanda started to hope that they would actually make it to the office of the annoying general. They only had to withstand the trembling and be faster than the demon. They could do it if they stayed shielded from the demon's direct attack: projectiles that exploded into hundreds of poisoned shreds. Once he had Mugen-

They skidded to abrupt halt when a giant fist crushed into the corridor just in front of them, making the walls and the ceiling collapse and fall, through the caved floor, down to the levels below. It was a mere meter ahead of them and the smiling face did not come much later, a gleeful "found you" resonating in Kanda's ears. He cursed, following Alma, when the other pulled him back, towards the previous holes made by the demon. Behind them, the demon reached his hand into the corridor, exploding the ceiling as it went, trying to grab them. He swore he could feel the fingers graze his hair just as they reached the gaping hole.

Six fingers closed around air as Kanda and Alma took a desperate jump into nothingness.

Kanda hit the ground in a roll, disregarding the bruises he'd surely get from the rubble. He got up as soon as his momentum slowed down and twisted out of the way of a projectile that passed him and hit a wall further away. Quickly, he looked around, trying to get his breathing under control after the run and registering the situation. The demon was focused on him, Alma having landed less in the open, and he was grateful. It would have been better to have a proper weapon, but he found metal bars that used to make the constructions stable and he picked up two, broken more or less at Mugen's length.

The metal bars wouldn't do much. They would not even damage the beast, but if he managed to swing them with force enough, the demon would probably step back instinctively, at the very least giving him some space to move or hide. It was better than nothing and Kanda was not going to go down without the fight, no matter if it seemed a lost case. Plus, that way he would also keep the demon's attention on himself and Alma would be free to act, hopefully fast enough so that he didn't have to die just yet.

'Well, well, well, if it isn't the illustrious Kanda Yuu himself,' said a mocking voice that made the hairs on Kanda's neck stand. He looked around frantically, trying to locate Tyki Mikk while the demon stood frozen. 'I would have thought you have learnt that my demon is more dangerous than the standard thing and yet, here you are, facing it unarmed,' the Noah continued to mock him. Kanda still could not see the main enemy, but he saw something else that chilled him to the bone. It was enough for him to momentarily ignore the Noah and the demon.

A violet butterfly was descending towards the unsuspecting Alma.

The decision wasn't really difficult. He turned away from the demon and ran towards the most important person of his life, which had a couple of negative side effects. Mikk shut up, probably curious. The demon turned in the direction where Alma was hiding, probably trying to see what was so interesting. Alma himself turned to Kanda, confused. But Kanda only looked at the infernal butterfly, flying closer and closer to the top of Alma's head and ran faster. He couldn't let the butterfly touch Alma.

'Yuu, what-' Alma started and stopped with a shocked shout, when Kanda jumped, swinging the piece of metal in his hand in a wide arc. He got the butterfly, smashing it viciously between his metal bar and the piece of wall, behind which Alma was hiding. It splattered violet and blood red on the wall. 'What the hell?' asked Alma, still in shock from the sudden attack.

'It's one of Tyki Mikk's carnivore butterflies, or at least it was,' he replied, breathless from the sprint and stress. 'They eat through people,' he explained with a shudder he couldn't suppress and watched how Alma paled. He did manage to stop his hand from going to his chest, where he could still feel the echo of the pain, but Alma understood. He saw Alma open his mouth to say something, but the cold laughter from beyond the hiding place reminded them of the situation.

'Come out, come out Exorcist,' the demon hissed. Kanda could hear that it was nearing the piece of wall, behind which they were hiding. There was a swish in the air and Kanda pushed Alma backwards as strong as he could, making him stumble into a niche further away. Unfortunately it meant he didn't have time to remove himself from the trajectory of the huge hand. The demon hit the wall and Kanda found himself projected in the opposite direction from Alma, followed closely by the pieces of the wall the demon broke.

He hit another wall with a breathless gasp and a crack as the back of his head connected with the unforgiving material. Rocks arrived too close for comfort and it was half luck, half reflexes that he managed to jump away from the flying debris. Dizzy, he landed in the open, face to face with an annoyed demon. It reached out to grab him and he thrust the metal bar forward with all his force. It smashed into pieces upon collision, the shock making him stumble, but the demon withdrew the appendage with an angry snarl. It looked at Kanda and tried again, only this time grabbing the metal last moment and tearing it out of Kanda's hand while its other hand moved to slam the momentarily motionless Exorcist into the ground.

He stumbled when the demon tore the metal from his hand, dizziness and fatigue conspiring against him. He would have fallen, on the mercy of the demon, except somebody caught him, half steadying him, half forcing him into a crouch. When he opened his eyes, cursing himself for such a cowardly instinct as closing them in the very first place, he was looking right into Alma's warm, brown eyes. They were nearly on the ground and Alma's right hand was raised in a protective gesture above their heads, the blades growing out from it piercing the demon's hand. The demon howled above them.

Alma smiled.

It felt like time stopped as Kanda looked at him, transfixed. Then, however, the demon moved and the blades on Alma's arm grew some more as he swiped his arm, slashing through the creature. It yelled in protest again and moved away a bit. That was their time to move. Alma helped him up, partly retracting the Innocence blades on his forearm while Kanda cursed not having Mugen. Not that it would help much in his current state, but he tried to ignore that thought even as Alma kept his hold on him. They both knew that he wasn't able to fight anymore and they looked around to find a hiding place, finding one not too far away. They didn't even need to talk to understand each other. Just as they were about to move, the demon lurched forward again, visibly already healed, but it never made it. Shocked, Kanda saw a huge hammer slam into it from the side, pushing it into the building violently. He blinked.

'Hello there, Yuu-chan,' sing-sang the most annoying voice Kanda has ever heard. He would have cursed and threatened the other, except he was quite happy for the intervention since he was, much to his chagrin, useless, which made him feel even angrier. 'Miss me?' Lavi asked landing securely next to them, shrinking his hammer, on which he had probably descended. 'I figured that Yuu'd be somehow involved in the carnage here,' he added with a laugh. Kanda scowled.

'Shut up, the demon's not dead,' he ground out finally. Greetings could wait and so could questions. Lavi's annoying smile faded and his lips twisted into a grimace. He had no time to say anything, because the demon wobbled and turned back to them with an angry snarl but no visible wounds. It didn't seem to appreciate the Innocence or smashing into the buildings, leaving cracks in their structure. Without any need for consultations, Alma and Lavi stepped in front of Kanda, who bristled in helpless anger at having to be protected.

'Nice to make your acquaintance, Alma,' Lavi said with faked carelessness in his voice. 'Let's make this into a long-lasting friendship afterwards, what do you say?' he asked and then ordered his hammer to grow. Alma laughed, but it sounded a bit forced. Not that Kanda blamed him, but he wished they both focused on the demon instead of chatting. As though they could ready his thoughts, Lavi got ready to swing his blade while Alma bent his knees to jump forward, but they didn't get to attack.

An unpleasantly familiar ball of flame flew towards the demon from the only untouched building around them. Kanda clearly saw the flames lick the demon's metal, red-gleaming surface. They inflicted no damage upon the creature, but it looked towards its source, momentarily losing its interest in the armed Exorcists in front of it.

'Now,' Kanda hissed needlessly. The word barely left his mouth when Alma was already jumping, literally flying in front of the demon and cutting through its belly with the curved blades of his Innocence. The demon howled in protest and looked towards Alma, who landed on the other side of the creature that healed instantly. Before it could attack, Lavi was swinging his hammer in a large arc, connecting with the creature's chest and sending it away from the source of the flames, which burst nearly immediately after, engulfing the creature.

'Isn't it fascinating to watch?' asked a silky voice just behind Kanda, making a chill run down his spine. He moved to turn when he realized there was one of those infernal butterflies sitting on his left shoulder. He froze. He was vaguely aware of the fight going on, but he could only focus on the Noah just behind him and the butterfly on his shoulder. Would he be able to grab it? In the worst it would flow away, right? 'Don't try it,' the silky voice advised him. 'The smallest move and Tease will-' he trailed of suggestively.

As though to illustrate Mikk's words, the butterfly moved and pain blossomed from where it sat. Kanda bit down on a scream. He didn't need to distract Alma and Lavi from the demon. Instead, he grabbed the butterfly by the wings because really, there was nothing to lose. It had the time to bite him a couple more times, digging itself into his flesh, but he tore it away from himself and threw it onto the ground. He stamped on it before it could fly away and then turned to face Tyki Mikk who knew probably as well as Kanda did that Kanda's left arm was useless until the bites healed.

'Such cruelty, pretty boy. They missed you, you know, my Tease. They seemed to enjoy their encounter with you in the English forest,' the Noah mocked, his words bringing unwanted memories. The golden eyes were sparkling with excitement, as though the current situation was the best entertainment Tyki could think of and, with some bitterness, Kanda thought that it probably was. The Noah were so much more powerful than the Exorcists that they treated their meetings as fun and even Kanda's victory over Wrath didn't seem to change that.

'Yuu,' yelled Lavi somewhere behind Kanda and, without question or hesitation, Kanda jumped to the side. Unfortunately the shout alerted also the Noah and Tyki managed to sink into the ground a split of a second before a huge hammer slammed into the ground where he had been standing. Worse yet for Lavi, as Kanda saw when he turned, the demon noticed Lavi was otherwise occupied and raised his hand to slam the Exorcist into the ground.

Before Kanda had the time to warn the redhead, a wall literally grew between the demon and Lavi and the demon's hand only cracked it. Incredulous, Kanda watched the wall grow in a wave, encircling the demon. Lavi also noticed it and stared in awe, while Alma ran up to them, barely looking at the suddenly appearing wall, as though it was something normal. The demon behind raged, but as cracks showed in the fully formed wall, another layer grew around it, forming a strange kind of monument in the middle of the suddenly debris-free courtyard.

'Follow me,' said a voice Kanda vaguely recognized and suddenly the golden-haired Fullmetal Alchemist was running towards them. A swarm of violet butterflies flew at him but they were far above when flames engulfed them and they burned. 'This way,' Fullmetal Alchemist motioned and, against his better judgement, Kanda followed him, Alma and Lavi right behind him. He heard Lavi instruct Alma to deactivate his Innocence, to minimize the trace Noah and demons could follow and it occurred to him that if he hadn't told Alma to activate it this whole episode could have been avoided.

'I'll be back, Exorcists,' said Tyki Mikk, visibly displeased with the outcome of the meeting. 'You will all become food for Tease,' he promised them. Involuntarily, Kanda shuddered, but did not look back as Fullmetal Alchemist led them into the half ruined building. He hoped he would not regret following the teenager even though he knew, hearing the demon finally bring down the walls that surrounded it, that there hadn't been much choice.


	9. Chapter 9

Ch 9

It was strangely convenient that the help from alchemists had arrived right when they needed it and not a moment earlier, but Lavi was ready to forgive them, seeing as he also had waited until the last minute to manifest his presence. His excuse, that he was worthless in combat compared to Kanda, was moot as Kanda had no Innocence on him and that was partly why Lavi did interfere. Thankfully Alma had parasitic Innocence and, even if it was probably the second time in his life that he wielded it, he did it quite well. Then again, it was probably Alma invoking the Innocence which had attracted the demon, but Lavi wasn't going to say that out loud.

The golden-haired alchemist stopped after they traversed a couple of rooms and followed three corridors, always going further into what was standing of the headquarters of the Amestrian military. Out of habit, Lavi looked around the room in which they were, noting all the details and positioning it on his mental map of the military headquarters. The room was the largest they have been to on their short escape, elegantly decorated with enough burgundy red and old gold to look impressive. In the middle stood an oval table with twenty chairs.

The alchemist, the very same one who had let Lavi into the library earlier the very same day, looked back at them, opening his mouth to speak. However, before he could say anything, another man entered, effectively getting everybody's attention. Lavi didn't miss the uncertain look the newcomer shot towards Alma nor Alma holding his gaze with some sort of determination. He looked the blond soldier up and down, noting the insignia of a lieutenant and the easy hold he had on the rifle.

'They're gone, boss,' he reported in a gruff tone that fitted his looks perfectly. The young alchemist nodded and thanked the man, whom he called Havoc. Lavi noted the name under the mental picture of the guy, along with the way he addressed the alchemist with fondness and respect. At the same time, he relaxed somewhat, glad that Tyki didn't pursue them into the building. He saw that Alma and Kanda relaxed somewhat as well, looking around the spacious room in which they had stopped.

'You're bleeding, Yuu,' Alma exclaimed, getting their attention. Predictably, Kanda scowled and Lavi waited for him to brush the distressed Exorcist aside, but nothing like that happened. Instead, Kanda grudgingly allowed himself to be seated on one of the seats around the oval table, and allowed Alma to relieve him of his shirt, which indeed was badly bloodied on his left shoulder. In the last moment, Lavi noticed that the stain surrounded a small hole in the tissue and frowned, wondering where the injury came from. The alchemist, looking genuinely worried, sent Havoc to bring medical supplies.

'I think it stopped bleeding, but I better clean it,' Alma said after taking a careful look at the curiously shaped, quite deep hole in Kanda's shoulder. Havoc came back with a first aid kit looking ready to help but, after the withering glare he got from Kanda, he left the box to Alma and moved away. Without hesitation, Alma opened the box and found what he needed. He seemed to know what he was doing, Lavi noted. 'We don't want it to get infected,' he commented.

'You know it will not get infected,' Kanda commented quietly and Lavi realized that he sounded embarrassed. He took a longer, more careful look at his fellow Exorcist, finally noticing that Kanda looked too tired, too thin and unhealthily pale. His tattoo seemed to have grown as well and he tried to sit so that Lavi wouldn't see it, although he should know better. Lavi frowned, making a mental note to find out what happened to him in the year since he went to Amestris, but he said nothing. Instead he watched amused how Kanda allowed himself to be fussed over like never before.

'You also hit your head, didn't you?' Alma worried, attaching a padding of gauze to the injured shoulder, covering the peculiar wound. Right afterwards, only cleaning his hands quickly, he reached towards the back of Kanda's head, to check for the injury. At this point, Kanda's patience had seemingly worn out, because he swatted Alma's hands away, although it was with much less anger than Lavi would have expected.

'It's healed,' he grumbled and blushed when Alma took off his military jacket to cover him, mumbling something about being cold. 'Stop fussing,' Kanda told him, his tone torn between a harsh order and a plea. Whatever it was meant to be, it fell on deaf ears as Alma decided that Kanda needed, after all, to put the jacket properly and close it and was proceeding to pretty much dress Kanda up. Lavi felt the corners of his lips twitch and he turned to the alchemist, who was watching the two Seconds. He turned to look at Lavi when he felt him looking.

'I think we haven't been properly introduced,' he said. Lavi raised an eyebrow, which he knew didn't have the desired effect, since his right eye was covered by a white, soft eyepatch. 'I am Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. And you are?' the alchemist asked. With an internal smile, Lavi noticed the pride with which he had introduced himself.

'I'm Lavi Martel. I work in a local book shop,' the redhead-dyed-brown replied cheerfully, extending his hand. Edward Elric took it with some hesitation. Immediately, Lavi realized that the teenager's hand was made of metal under the while glove, but he didn't let it show on his face. He came to realize that automail was something relatively normal in this world, although why such a young person would need one was beyond him. 'Thanks a lot for earlier today. I really needed to check out some references from the History of Alchemy,' he added, withdrawing his hand.

'You'll need a better lie than that, Mr Martel. If that is really your name,' said a new voice and Lavi turned around to face a dark haired man with vaguely Asian features, who entered the room. His uniform identified him as a general, his manner was that of cool confidence and Lavi didn't miss how Kanda nearly jumped up from the chair, tensing in a half-attack position. So the man who held him locked up, Lavi deduced, wondering if the general was behind Kanda's poor condition.

Right after the general, a blond woman entered, also wearing a blue uniform of the Amestrian military, but Lavi found it difficult to focus on her, because she carried a very familiar blade. Of course Lavi was more used to see it pointed towards a vital part of his body of Kanda's choice, but he did recognize the sheath and the hilt. He noticed also, with the corner of his eye, Alma restraining Kanda and muttering something to his ear. He would have sworn it was something along the lines of "pretend we did not escape", which meant Yuu-chan had a story to share.

'Martel is as good a name as any other,' Lavi stated cryptically, purposefully not looking toward Kanda, whom he hoped would not say anything stupid. The general gave him a careful look, while the blond behind him mainly focused on glaring at Kanda and Alma. 'May I have the pleasure of knowing yours?' he asked after a moment of silence.

'I am general Roy Mustang of the Amestrian military,' the man said after a brief consideration. 'You have already met major Elric and the remaining two are lieutenants Jean Havoc and Riza Hawkeye,' he introduced, pointing at the people in question. 'And now, Mr Martel, we would like a better explanation to your sudden appearance on the roof of the headquarters of the military. And before you choose to lie, I will tell you that I have received reports of you looking around the building more less since major Elric and officer Karma returned from the library,' he added.

Lavi knew he needed to think fast. He didn't feel like revealing the truth to the man who held Kanda captive and, judging from the way lieutenant Hawkeye held Mugen, understood neither the power nor the value of Innocence. Ideally, he needed also to find a peaceful solution for Kanda to get back Mugen before the Japanese decided to stop pretending he and Alma did not escape, whatever that meant. Bloodbath would be messy and escape, from the ground floor in the middle of the building, difficult.

'And before you chose to do something stupid, know that flame throwing is a speciality of mine and Fullmetal can cut any escape route you might find here,' general Mustang commented, not even pretending it was not a threat. Lavi raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, pulling up an awkward kind of smile onto his face as he did so.

'I don't know who you take me for, but "something stupid" is the last thing I want to do,' he said, barely managing to stop himself from adding something along the lines of "I hope so do you". It would lead him nowhere to threaten the general. 'In fact I haven't lied to you so far. My name is Lavi Martel and I do work in a bookshop nearby. Well, I suppose it depends on your definition of "nearby" but it's in the centre of the Central City, so I think I'm on the safe side of "truth" here. I can probably calculate the exact distance for you, if you give me a map,' he offered, hiding the smugness at Mustang's badly hidden annoyance.

'I was also looking for references from the History of Alchemy, earlier today,' he continued after a brief pause. 'You see I read the book recently, my bookshop sells it and the owner is really cool with me reading during working hours. In all honesty it's probably because we don't get many customers, but I suppose that doesn't interest you in the least. So anyway, I read the book and there was an interesting notice about the origins of elemental transmutation. The book not being a detailed review of alchemical techniques, it only mentioned the principle, sending readers to the original works of Socrates, uh, wasn't his name something like that?' he gulped theatrically. 'When you look at me like that I suddenly feel stressed. I cannot remember the name anymore. Sorcier? No, that doesn't sound right either. Can you please-'

'Stop babbling,' Mustang growled. Lavi had to bite the inside of his cheek to not laugh, especially when he saw Alma openly giggling. Kanda, predictably, looked ready to kill him and so did Mustang, while Edward Elric watched with a mixture of awe and amusement. 'Get straight to the moment when you explain why you have followed Fullmetal and Karma back from the library. They might not have noticed you, but some of my people did,' the general added. Lavi pursed his lips tightly. He had to risk, didn't he? In any case Kanda was at the end of his patience and Lavi knew the look all too well: whatever had been going on before he popped in, Kanda was not going back to the previous status quo.

'It's simple really,' Lavi said, his tone calmer and more serious. 'I accidentally overheard the conversation between Fullmetal Alchemist and officer Karma and I figured that I could help you out,' he stated. Hawkeye and Havoc twitched slightly, while Alma looked at him surprised. Mustang stared at him, silently ordering him to elaborate. 'Hell, after that demon today you know you need help and the faster you can get over that idiotic homunculus theory the faster you can move on to designing defences,' he said coldly.

Mustang was also thinking fast and connected the dots correctly: Lavi knew of the demons so he must have been from the other world. Unfortunately, he took that information as a declaration of hostilities. Whatever the kind of signal it was, as he rushed to put on a white glove, lieutenant Hawkeye threw Mugen away and grabbed her pistol, aiming at Lavi. Her aim changed though, when Kanda sprang towards her, literally avoiding the bullets she fired as he dove for the discarded sword. Faster than she could turn, Kanda drew Mugen and pressed it against her neck, ignoring the rifle now trained at him by Havoc. Alma put himself between Mustang and Lavi, who stifled a smirk at the outcome of the situation. He didn't want to appear threatening.

'What the-' Edward started.

'Shut up beansprout,' Kanda hissed. Lavi winced at the sting of homesickness those words brought. Right afterwards he jumped up when Edward yelled furiously: "who are you calling so short that he can pass under a sword lying on the floor?!"

'Let's keep calm and be grown up about this,' Lavi suggested in the most peaceful tone he could manage. It was difficult to keep serious, when his head produced images of Allen reacting similarly, but it was neither the time nor the place. 'You put away your magical glove, mister alchemist and Yuu is not going to cut the throat of the beautiful lady behind you,' he said firmly. Reluctantly, Mustang lowered his hand and took off the glove, while Kanda withdrew Mugen. On the side, Havoc put down the rifle and Hawkeye put away her gun.

Lavi breathed a sigh of relief. He nearly chocked on it when Kanda stumbled slightly, but the Japanese managed to keep his balance and even glare at Lavi, as though daring him to comment. Lavi didn't. Instead he turned his worried gaze to Alma and nodded towards Kanda wordlessly. It was all the invitation Alma needed to go, rushing up to Kanda and quietly asking whether everything was fine, fussing, leaving Lavi unprotected. Not that Lavi was in any immediate danger, since Mustang focused on making sure Hawkeye was alright. Luckily, Kanda only stumbled when Mugen was put away, Lavi thought. He turned to Mustang.

'I will make a shortcut as to assume you know where Yuu and Alma originally come from,' Lavi started, carefully choosing his words. He only continued after getting a terse nod of confirmation. 'Back in that world, demons are nothing unusual, as sad as it is, but this demon is different. One year ago we saw it for the first time and it came bringing horrible and horrifying news. Recently, two more demons of the same kind, although a lower level, were observed,' he said, not missing how Kanda's pale face turned paler yet at the news. 'There is only one thing that can defeat a demon, yet those three seem to be partially immune. You saw the damage it did, triple it and ask yourself how long your country can stand if you cannot put up some defence.'

'And I assume you want to say that the three of you, potentially dangerous creatures, are to be our defence,' Mustang half stated, half asked. Lavi shrugged. 'What do you get out of the deal?' he asked.

'We swore our lives to rid the world of demons and their masters,' Lavi told him simply. 'We need your help because I don't think it's a coincidence that Tyki Mikk came to this world. You need our help because alchemy will be powerless against the demons. If we win, you get to keep your country and we get to live peacefully. Everybody wins, everybody's happy,' he paused and shrugged. 'If you don't help us we might still make it, although I suppose we'll just die and then Tyki Mikk and the other Noah will descend upon your unprotected world and sow tragedy.'

'You might not be up to date, but your alleged friends don't die so easily,' Havoc pointed out. Lavi spared him a cold glare. 'I saw you fight and you clearly cannot regenerate like them or you would have taken greater risks,' he added, more for Mustang's information than anything else, Lavi was sure.

'Back to the homunculi discussion I see,' Lavi muttered. He glanced at Kanda and Alma, who were standing behind the group, seemingly forgotten for a while. Then he looked at the teenaged alchemist and pursed his lips. 'The world where we come from does not and never did have the Philosopher's Stone,' he proclaimed. 'Isn't that enough to calm your fears?' he asked, wishing that it would be good enough. He didn't particularly want to remember the bloodiest of Black Order's experiments.

'If not homunculi, what are they then?' Mustang asked. Behind him, both Alma and Kanda winced at the words.

'Human,' Lavi replied firmly, speaking to the two Seconds as much as to Mustang. 'Blood and bones and a little bit of magic. They were given their regeneration abilities to survive forced synchronization with Innocence, a lethal procedure. It was a desperate measure to increase the numbers of the Exorcists, but it was deemed too costly for the results it provided,' he explained. He supposed it wasn't even a lie and anyway, he wasn't telling Mustang the whole story. 'If it will convince you, I can give you all the details, but I don't want Alma and Yuu, and Edward, to listen,' he added. Edward looked affronted, while Mustang looked at Lavi thoughtfully.

'Later maybe,' Mustang said after a long pause. He seemed to have reached his decision. 'It was a long day for everybody and we all need our rest. A room in the soldier barracks will be given to you for the moment. It will be guarded. The whole complex is heavily guarded. Tomorrow we shall meet here for a breakfast and a longer discussion,' he said. Lavi nodded in agreement. He didn't bother to tell Mustang that the guards would be for nothing if they really wanted to leave.


	10. Chapter 10

Ch 10

Days passed peacefully in Resembool. In the mornings Allen allowed himself to sleep in, woken up only by the smell of fresh coffee and whatever Pinako made for breakfast. He never quite ate his fill, but he ate enough. After the meal, he trained with Alphonse, who was stubborn and doing better with each passing day. They paused for lunch and continued afterwards, only giving themselves an hour or two before dinner, to chat or read. Allen discreetly learned about the new world, while Alphonse studied complicated, alchemical works. Sometimes Winry joined them during that time and the hours were spent talking, until Pinako called them for dinner.

But that was the past and he was surprised at how bitter he felt about reality catching up with him. The routine shattered into pieces that morning, when Allen went down to find everybody already there. He thought idly that it was unusual for Winry to come before him, but, before the words left his mouth, he realized that all three of his hosts were reading the newspaper with expressions of horror of varying degree on their faces. Whatever happened, it was bad and Allen felt horrible that, even as he frowned, he felt his heart beat faster in excitement.

The military headquarters had been attacked by something. The journalist did his best to describe a humanoid of great size, gleaming red in the darkness of the late evening as it smashed with its bare hands through the solid building of the military. The journalist had no idea what the monster was and Allen wished he could say the same, but the description was good enough for him to imagine the level three that had brought Kanda's body to the Black Order. Out of the horrors he had seen in his life, that day would surely remain in his memory till the day he died. It was unfair, because Kanda wasn't the first Exorcist Allen had known to die and that was yet more true for Komui and Lenalee, but it was the truth. That day marked a new era for the Order.

It was the era of fear and a part of Allen was glad he was away from it, but it only made the other part of him guilty because he knew that he and Kanda were among the strongest Exorcists and with them gone, who would protect the Order? He chased away those worries because, no matter how much he thought about it, there was nothing he could do about it. The Order had survived until he showed up and would have to continue without him. They would manage, he wanted to believe. He had another problem.

There was a demon in Amestris, and not just any demon. It was a demon that had managed to achieve what the Noah of Wrath had failed and Allen had an uncomfortable feeling that the level three wasn't in Amestris on its own. He wasted no time, apologizing to his hosts and leaving the moment the news sank in. From the days of observation he knew where the train station was and, by the time he got there, he managed to steal money enough for a train ticket. He felt guilty about it, but the images of the demon throwing a bloodied body to the ground kept him moving.

For once luck was on his side and he just managed to get onto a train to the Central City. It was relatively full, but he still managed to find a seat for himself, right behind a group of men in blue uniforms of the Amestrian military. Their worried faces told Allen that they heard about the events and he congratulated himself on his choice, hoping he would hear something from their conversations. He wasn't disappointed. The train didn't start yet and Allen already knew that the soldiers were being called to the Central to replace the casualties of the previous day's accident.

'They sure don't waste time in the Central,' one of the soldiers commented. He didn't seem happy to be leaving the sleepy village. 'The attack was last night and already they passed urgent orders,' he added, which got general agreement from his companions.

'Rogers called me last night,' another said, creating a perfect silence. Allen listened carefully. 'He said he wasn't going to be able to sleep after what happened and you guys know Rogers, he's the toughest of us all,' he paused, letting a murmur of acknowledgement pass. 'He claimed the Flame Alchemist was powerless against that creature,' he said. The Flame Alchemist, Allen had learnt, was the man whom Edward referred to as the bastard general and so the one who had called Edward to the Central. The soldiers sounded very worried and surprised.

'There were some other people, Rogers said, fighting that monster,' the soldier continued and Allen straightened in his seat. 'He said there was a freak with blades growing out of his arm and some guy with a hammer that would change size,' he said. Allen's heart skipped a beat: Lavi! Lavi was there after all! It was a great relief and he already knew he what he would do as soon as he got to the Central. That he wouldn't have to fight alone was the best news he could hope for.

'You mean like we've seen Fullmetal do with his automail?' one of the soldiers asked and Allen forced himself to listen again, knowing that Fullmetal was none other than Edward. The soldier who spoke before told them that Rogers couldn't see any metal on the guy with blades and that the blades themselves didn't look to be made of metal anyway. It was definitely a parasitic Innocence, Allen knew, but who could it have been?

'It's an interesting question, isn't it?' asked a silky voice from in front of him and Allen literally jumped on his seat, focusing on the man seated in front of him, facing him with a small, mocking smile. He was speechless as he took in the elegant redingote the man wore and the black curly hair framing a pale face. The golden eyes were boring into him. 'I actually don't know that Exorcist either,' Tyki Mikk said.

'Was the attack your doing?' Allen asked angrily, keeping his voice quiet. He didn't want anybody to hear their conversation. Actually he didn't even want to have the conversation, but getting additional information would be priceless in the later fight.

'I wish,' Tyki laughed shortly. 'One of my precious demons lost control when the samurai princess had the parasitic Exorcist invoke,' he said mockingly, sounding thoroughly amused as well. Allen blinked, the meaning behind the words sinking slowly. He nearly forgot to breathe when the only possible candidate for Tyki's derisive description popped up in his mind. Could it really be Kanda? A brief image of how he had seen the Exorcist last time crossed his mind, but he chased it away, hope swelling in his heart.

'Don't get that look, Cheating Boy,' Tyki muttered with displeasure. 'The princess is in a poor shape. It seems that Amestris hasn't been treating him well,' he said slyly, visibly satisfied at the worry Allen was sure showed on his face at his words. 'Bookman Junior, on the other hand, managed to fit right in. As expected from a Bookman really. If he hadn't butted in to save the other two, I wouldn't even know he was around. And let me tell you that I was aware of your presence since I arrived.'

'Kanda needed saving?' slipped past Allen's lips in surprise. Tyki raised an eyebrow and Allen scowled at him, annoyed that his appreciation for Kanda's skills was audible in his tone. 'What are you doing here?' he asked, deciding that a change of topic was due. Behind him, the soldiers went on to more cheerful topics. Across the aisle, a family was sitting and Allen became unpleasantly aware of the little space he had, should Tyki attack. Tyki smirked.

'Would you like to play a round of cards?' he asked. Allen stared at him incredulously. 'What's with the expression? I knew that the news of the demon will reach you and you will rush to the rescue and I cannot let you, you see. But I wanted to play one last round with you, so here I am,' he explained, making it sound perfectly logical.

'What are-' Allen started, pushing himself up, but Tyki stopped him short, raising a hand.

'Not a move, Cheating Boy,' he said with a sharp gleam in his eyes. 'My three demons are sitting on the roof of this train. Did you read what one has done to a massive building last night? Can you imagine what three can do to a flimsy train? You will never manage to save everybody and they will die because you recklessly attacked me,' he chuckled. Allen fell back onto the seat, feeling as though his energy was completely spent. Then a thought occurred to him.

'There are demons on the train?' he asked. Tyki nodded.

'Your eye doesn't react, does it?' he asked back with a smug smirk, as though reading Allen's mind. 'I had a demon follow you for three days, from a distance of course. Thankfully you didn't activate your Innocence, it seems that my demons crave it so much they ignore any orders to get it once it's activated,' he informed Allen, who paled at the realization of how close he had been to a disaster. He had been so tempted to activate Crowned Clown just to convince himself that he wasn't going crazy, but he always stopped himself, worried that somebody would come in on it.

Resigned, he watched Tyki deal out the cards and he took them mechanically. His mind was running a mile an hour, trying to figure out how to overcome the crisis. He didn't doubt that the three demons were of the new kind and there was something in the way Tyki said "my" demons, which he didn't like at all. It was certainly worth consideration, however. He played the first move.

'So you're a scout now? You're preparing the ground for the Earl in the new world?' he asked, keeping his tone neutral and his expression blank. Tyki smirked and played a better card, making Allen scowl momentarily. He wasn't prepared for the possibility to play cards, damn it, and he really didn't like to lose. Losing in cards was something Allen just didn't do.

'Actually no,' the Noah stated. 'I'm sick of being a puppet,' he told Allen, visibly pleased at the surprise on Allen's face. He even went as far as laughing shortly. 'You see it was me who found the passage to this world and it was me who figured out how to render the demons immortal, at least to a certain degree. There are no Exorcists here. Or at least soon there will be no more and I will have the world to myself. All the amusement I can think of, can you imagine?' he asked, his eyes gleaming with greed. Allen pursed his lips.

'I crossed over from the other world,' he pointed out. 'You saw Kanda and Lavi and some other Exorcist, so they also crossed to this world. How can you know more will not come?' he asked as he played another card, knowing it was too weak to win. A chill ran down his spine when Tyki smiled this time. In a way he didn't even need the answer.

'I took care of the doorway, you know. I left some of my Tease in that room, some of the ones who drank the immortal blood of your precious comrade. Their orders are two: eat whoever tries to cross to this world, Exorcist or Noah, and to eat the door. Now the door might take time, but Tease don't die and those ones are particularly robust. In the meantime whoever tries to cross here will get eaten,' Tyki announced gleefully and played his card, winning again. Allen, however, couldn't bring himself to care for the moment. He had a horrible vision of Lenalee arriving to the white place encountering a flock of violet, carnivore butterflies. 'It's only the four of you against my three demons,' Tyki continued. 'Three of you have lost once already. If I move fast enough the samurai princess will not have the time to recover, Bookman Junior will be easy and the parasitic one is not experienced. Which only leaves you, Cheating Boy, as any sort of possible threat,' he finished.

'If you want to fight, let's fight somewhere else,' Allen said, putting away his cards. Tyki scowled with displeasure at the gesture, but then his face smoothed into a mocking smirk. He took all the cards and carefully put them back into the well-worn box in which he carried them.

'Who said I wanted to fight?' he asked. Allen frowned. 'I just want to kill you, but there will be no fight. Fighting bores me,' he explained. 'This game was very boring as well, but now it's over, since you refuse to play,' he added, putting the box of cards into his pocket. He barely finished speaking when the train shook violently. Allen stared at him in mute horror, while the soldiers jumped up, loudly talking about going to check what happened. Tyki smirked. One of the kids across the aisle from them started crying, scared. Allen shook his head, snapping out of his shock.

'I won't let you kill all those people,' he said firmly. As though in reply, the train shook again and somebody, who went to look out through the window, shouted that the back of the train had derailed. Tyki looked amused, even more so when Allen called up Crown Clown. Five seconds later, an explosion in the front shook the train and the ceiling was ripped off. The members of the family across the aisle screamed, as did some other passengers.

'Perfect timing, also: right when we are passing over the ravine,' Tyki commented quietly, but Allen wasn't listening, too busy staring at the demon who had killed him. The demon stared at him as well and for a couple of heartbeats neither moved. Suddenly the floor shifted under his feet and Allen looked at Tyki. The Noah smirked and waved before jumping out and, caught by the demon, disappeared.

The train was falling.

Allen tried to pick up as many people as he could into the threads of Crown Clown, but he only got half of the family and two soldiers. He jumped up, trying to extend one to the broken bridge and it attached but the pressure was too much and he was forced to release the hold. As he was falling, wagons below crashed into the ground, splintering as though they were made of cardboard. A thought, that this tragedy would not attract the Earl, crossed his mind as the ground kept racing towards them. In desperation, he extended Crown Clown downwards, trying to make it a spring that would slow them down.

He released them from his Innocence just before impact, so that they didn't all fall one on the other, but late enough so that they didn't fall too hard either. He realized his mistake too late: as the ground rushed towards him he barely managed to break the fall. Crown Clown and his hands slowed him, so that when his head hit the rocks below, it did not split. Pain exploded and darkness took everything.


	11. Chapter 11

Ch 11

Watching Yuu and Lavi arguing casually, Alma Karma did his best to not be jealous. So what if Yuu had other friends than him? He had many friends in Amestris and one day he would introduce them to the most important person of his life and surely Yuu would also see how much Alma has changed. Surely Yuu would also be upset to realize how many things he didn't know about Alma, just like it hadn't occurred to Alma that Yuu might be vegetarian and for that reason refuse to eat any meat.

It was such a tiny detail, but it was many of the tiny details about Yuu that Lavi knew and Alma was jealous. His jealousy only increased when Lavi managed to get them out of the nasty situation in less than a day, while Alma had spent his time trailing behind the Fullmetal Alchemist, completely helpless. That Lavi used his apparently extensive knowledge of the Second Exorcist program only served to annoy Alma further. That Lavi refused to talk about it with him and Yuu present infuriated Alma to no end. As though Lavi could claim to understand!

There were things, Alma was reassured in his belief, that only he and Yuu could understand and the way Yuu looked at him confirmed him. And Alma knew that he would forgive Lavi everything, because his was a special place in Yuu's heart and nobody could take that away from him, the very same way as Yuu's was a special place in his heart and none of the friends Alma had in Amestris came even close to that special bond. Besides, it was very difficult to dislike Lavi, whose cheerful smile was contagious and stories fascinating.

'This expression doesn't fit you at all,' he heard and snapped out of his thoughts to see the argument finished, both Yuu and Lavi looking at him. He felt himself blush, damn the shyness he never quite managed to get rid of. Yuu smirked and Alma called up his best, seductive smile, asking if it was better. Interestingly, Yuu blushed a little bit, even as he scowled. 'Stop being stupid Alma, we were supposed to spar,' he said.

'Indeed,' Alma exclaimed, sitting straighter. 'Let's see what you can do, weakling,' he challenged, immediately regretting his choice of words. Yuu was still weak after the awful ordeal with the Healing Alchemist and it was hardly his fault if he was not in good form. However, even Alma knew better than to apologize and, anyway, Yuu growled angrily about seeing who was the weakling and attacked without further hesitation.

Alma barely managed to invoke his Innocence, cursing the luck that gave Yuu a weapon deadly in itself. He parried and pushed Yuu back, giving himself all of five seconds before the second attack forced him to forego any ideas of offensive for the next couple of seconds. The difference in their level was clear and Alma's defeat sure after less than two minutes. Just like in the labs, Alma thought and this idea annoyed him suddenly. He was not going to lose.

He ducked the next swipe of the shiny blade and profited from Yuu's surprise and momentary loss of balance, to kick the legs from under the swordsman. He moved out of the way to let Yuu fall and that was his mistake, because Yuu caught himself in the stumble and somehow somersaulted clumsily away. Alma saw him stagger upon landing and was about to end the fight, but the glare in Yuu's eyes stopped him.

Ten years disappeared for a moment. The other day in the cell it was more of a fist fight, this was serious. With feline grace, Alma covered the distance between them and jumped over Yuu's katana, leading out a kick. It would have connected to Yuu's face if the swordsman didn't dodge, throwing a punch at the same time. It connected with Alma's leg, throwing him off his course and making his landing more of a stumble. He barely had the time to turn and Yuu was already there, his katana raised for the next blow.

Alma parried the blow, blocking the weapon in his blades, immobilizing Yuu for the split of the second he needed to deliver a blow to his stomach. Instinctively, Yuu doubled up, but it lasted as short as the punch itself. The katana, Mugen, screeched horribly as Yuu yanked it free, the hilt crashing into Alma's ribs painfully. In retaliation, Alma tried to grab Yuu and immobilize him, but his blades only caught the tips of the black hair as the swordsman ducked.

It was sickening that they were sharp enough to cut through hair floating in the air, but Alma didn't let that distract him. Yuu was already up and raising his hand to swipe the blade right across Alma, but he dodged and grabbed the hand holding the weapon. Without thinking, without hesitation, he twisted Yuu's hand behind his back with a nasty crack, kicking the feet from under the swordsman at the same time.

He did break their fall, partly, too late realizing that crashing against the hard ground would be much too painful for Yuu, but he couldn't quite steady them anymore. Nevertheless, he winced at the dull thud when they landed, him on top of Yuu, pinning his younger "brother" to the ground. He winced again when the cold steel of Yuu's katana cut him and he twisted his hand further, to force him to release the blade.

'I win this time,' he whispered into Yuu's ear. Then the unmistakeable wave of power rolled off Yuu and Alma immediately released his hand, letting the shoulder fix itself. Of course, he forgot he was leaning heavily on this hand and the sudden move made him fall flat on Yuu, who groaned in pain. Ouch, thought Alma.

'Is Yuu-chan comfortable?' asked Lavi and Alma looked at the redhead, who came up to squat next to them, the expression on his face as though it was Christmas come early. Blush burning his face at the tone Lavi used, Alma scrambled up, helped by the fact that Yuu literally jumped, tackling the redhead to the ground with a growl of "don't call me that you idiot rabbit". Lavi went down with a yelp and Alma rushed to pull Yuu off him.

When he managed Yuu all but crumbled in his arms and he changed his grip from restraining to supporting as discreetly as he could. At the same time, while Lavi got up laughing and brushed the dirt from his clothes, Alma fussed over Yuu's and his clothes as well, fighting hard to control his own laughter. Of course, Yuu didn't join in the cheer, upset to have been defeated, however, when Alma smiled at him, his expression softened. And that, Alma knew, was something only he could do.

'I never saw you fight like that, Alma,' said a familiar voice that Alma really didn't want to hear. He released his hold on Yuu, who seemed alright again. 'It's a miracle neither of you are seriously hurt,' the voice added and Alma turned to look at Armstrong, his previous commander. The huge man was smiling his typical, friendly smile even when Lavi and Yuu visibly flinched at his appearance. 'Who are your friends?' Armstrong asked and Alma panicked internally. What was he to say in such a situation?

'They're helping me with the inquisition into yesterday's destruction,' said Mustang, appearing out of nowhere. Armstrong greeted the general jovially and chatted for a moment before saying he needed to get to work and Mustang turned his disapproving gaze towards Lavi. 'As you see there were other reasons for which I had insisted you remain hidden,' he pointed out, not bothering to hide his irritation anymore. 'We need to get you a cover story now,' the general added with a sigh, when Lavi failed to comment his previous statement. The redhead started to open his mouth to enter, when Havoc ran out onto the courtyard.

'There's been a message from the Eastern Quarters,' the man announced. 'The train with reinforcements crashed-'

'Right over a deep ravine,' said a silky voice, cutting Havoc short. It was only the second time Alma heard it, but he recognized it without a fault: the Noah called Tyki Mikk. He looked around but the man was nowhere to be seen. 'And with it crashed Allen Walker, on his way to the Central City,' the Noah added. The name must have held a significance, because Lavi gasped, paling. Yuu cast him a surprised glance, visibly worried by the news.

'It takes more than a train crash to kill the Destroyer of Time,' Lavi pointed out, a determined expression replacing shock on his pale face. Alma couldn't say whether he believed his words or not. 'You might remember, even a hole in the heart wasn't enough,' the redhead added, a sudden, smug smile on his face feeling completely out of place for Alma. Yuu snorted, but the sound came out a bit strangled and Alma's heart skipped a beat when Tyki Mikk showed up out of nowhere, right behind Yuu, one hand on the swordsman right shoulder, the other in front of him, holding a violet butterfly. A carnivore butterfly, Yuu said the previous day.

'I suppose it will not be enough for this one either, Bookman Junior, right?' the Noah asked. He sounded angry. Alma invoked his Innocence. He wasn't sure what he could do, being further from Yuu than the Noah and the butterfly, but he knew he couldn't stand idle. That is, until the Noah plunged a hand, holding the butterfly, into Yuu's chest, as though there was no barrier. A strangled cry of protest tore itself from Alma's lips, in harmony with the cries of Mustang and Havoc. Lavi's face went white. Yuu froze. 'Not a move more, Parasitic Exorcist,' said the Noah, smug. 'I can choose what I touch, so the little princess is not hurt yet, but what will happen when I will leave the butterfly there?'

'What do you want, Mikk?' Lavi asked through gritted teeth. The Noah laughed.

'From you? Nothing, Bookman Junior, absolutely nothing,' he said. 'In fact, what I want is to kill you all and have this world to myself. I got rid of Allen Walker, now is Kanda Yuu's turn. Do you think you and one, untrained Exorcist can stop me afterwards?' he asked as he withdrew his empty hand. Alma held his breath, but for the moment nothing happened. 'Or will you have the courage to stab your comrade in the heart?' he asked and, as he spoke the last words, Kanda screamed, doubling up in pain, hands clutching at his chest.

'Yuu,' Alma and Lavi exclaimed in unison, rushing towards the swordsman as he crumbled to the ground. Tyki Mikk laughed and disappeared, sinking into the ground, but Alma couldn't care less at the moment. He caught Yuu before the other could fully fall and lowered him gently the rest of the way as Lavi nearly fell to his knees next to them. Yuu stopped screaming, but his breathing sounded bad, wet as though-

'It's in the lung,' Lavi muttered frantically. 'He lied about the heart, you can hear it. It's in the lung, how to we get it out? Tyki can order them whatever he wants, we need-' Yuu's scream cut him short and, as the scream ended, Yuu coughed up blood. 'Ah damn,' Lavi whined. He looked up at Alma. 'We have to-' he trailed off, but Alma knew what they had to do. They couldn't wait for the butterfly to bite its way out of Kanda's body, not even sure when it would.

'Kill it,' Yuu ordered them hoarsely. 'Now, before-' he didn't finish his phrase, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut. Tears of pain leaked from the corners of his eyes and Alma took a deep breath. He didn't want Yuu to suffer, literally eaten from the inside.

'Where is it?' he asked when the pain subsided. His voice was so quiet that he was afraid Yuu wouldn't hear. It would be just like their fights, he thought, when Yuu took his hand in a shaky grip, and placed it on his chest, just above his heart. 'Alright,' he whispered and removed their hands, having memorized the place. Just like their fights. Tears welled in his eyes, because he really didn't want to hurt Yuu, but there was no choice. He let the blade of his Innocence grow and, before he could change his mind, stabbed.

'What the hell are you doing?' shouted a voice behind them, drowning out Yuu's gasp as the swordsman finally gave up and lost consciousness. Blinking away the tears, Alma withdrew the blade. Then, forcing down the nausea that threatened to overcome him, he fished the dead butterfly out of Yuu's body and threw it to the ground. 'Are you out of your mind?' shouted the same, scandalized voice.

'Very impressive, Exorcist,' said Tyki. Something in Alma snapped. He left Yuu with Lavi, who looked green on his face, and pounced, judging the Noah's position by the sound alone. He might have yelled something, or somebody else might have yelled. He might have pushed aside a harried looking doctor that was in his way. He saw only the smug smile and it was where he aimed.

He pretty much collided with the Noah, his Innocence slashing across the smug face. It was supposed to cut off the head, but the Noah moved too fast. He landed on the other side of the despicable creature and turned to attack again, faster than the Noah could turn. This time, he got a satisfying grunt of pain as his blades slashed the back and the side of the Noah, who was turning. Golden eyes looked at him with something akin to fear, which gave him more satisfaction than it should. He aimed another swipe, but the Noah sank to the ground and he stumbled.

'Wow,' muttered Lavi and Alma looked towards the redhead. The green eye was watching him with awe. Slowly, he became aware of everybody's looks focused on him and he felt his cheeks warm with a blush. Then Yuu gasped quietly, the spell was broken. The audience forgotten, Alma rushed back to Yuu's side.


	12. Chapter 12

Ch 12

He was drifting in white, fluffy... fluff. It was pleasant enough, warm and soft, carrying him as he drifted. Or did he simply stay suspended? It didn't really matter, because it was nice and there were no problems, no things that needed to be done. It was a rest and he had wanted it more than he would admit. And the fluff smelled like home, even though he wasn't sure what home should smell like. Probably like that, he decided, imagining how a contented smile would stretch his lips if he had any. He didn't feel very material right then and he didn't mind at all. Then suddenly, voices fluttered his way, words carried on the soft breeze, too quiet for him to understand. Were there more people around?

He thought about calling out, but only a small moan echoed in his ears. Was that him? He didn't have time to wonder, because suddenly the fluff dissolved and he was falling and suddenly he had a body and it was burning with pain. Everything became grey, then darker grey until finally pitch black, just as he felt a solid surface under his back. Ouch. A moan echoed in the darkened world again, louder this time and the voices on the breeze stopped abruptly.

'Ah, is beansprout-chan awake?' asked the most irritating voice he could think of hearing at that particular moment. All the same, relief and joy flooded him as he registered the presence of Lavi nearby and the implications. He finally found the other Exorcist! Somehow, or rather Lavi found him. It's Allen, he wanted to say but all he heard was another moan. There was a faint sound of disapproval that was awfully familiar and surely not voiced by Lavi.

'Who are you calling so small that they can hide behind a needle?' exclaimed a voice Allen was surprised to assign to Edward. Wasn't Edward supposed to be in the Central City? His mind was confused, the white fluff obstructing his thought process. He tried to open his eyes, aware of them being just about the only part of his face that did not hurt, but somehow, his eyelids were heavy. 'Ah damn, why would I even think to hide behind a needle?' the young alchemist whined, his voice nearly drowned out by another exclamation.

'That is beansprout?' asked a voice Allen couldn't assign to anybody. It was eager and cheerful and Allen was sure he would like the person who spoke. Must be the Exorcist Tyki mentioned, he figured. Since Edward was there, there was a big chance he was in the Central City and that was where Tyki's demons had attacked and where Lavi was, together with-

'Isn't it obvious he's the idiot beansprout?' asked Kanda grumpily and Allen's eyes finally snapped open, if only in the sheer shock of hearing the sharp tone. Lavi giggled evilly at him for the reaction and he weakly punched the redhead who was sitting next to his bed. He wanted to turn his head to where he heard Kanda's voice, to see with his own eyes that the other Exorcist was alive, but he found his neck immobilized. A cold shudder ran down his spine.

'A precaution,' Lavi explained, probably noticing Allen's nervous reaction to the collar. 'You hit your head pretty hard and the doctor wanted to avoid you being able to hurt it at all. But your spine is intact as far as they could see. Do you want to sit up a bit?' he asked and Allen gratefully accepted the offer.

'For the record, my name is Allen, BaKanda, and don't teach people this stupid nickname,' he complained, while Lavi and Edward manoeuvred him around, both visibly amused by his anger. Sharp headache stabbed him as soon as he moved, but he only winced quietly, not wanting Lavi to change his mind. He hated to be weak in front of his main rival. Laughter echoed in the room.

'You didn't tell me you had a nickname as well, Yuu,' said the new voice cheerfully. Allen blinked and then blinked again when the usual complaint about Kanda's given name being used did not follow. He turned his whole upper body to see Kanda half sitting in another bed, a young man with dark brown, messy hair sitting next to it. The unknown Exorcist seemed to be the same age as Lavi and Kanda. As far as Allen could see, he was lean-built and had a weird, horizontal scar across his nose. Allen was sure he had never seen the man before.

'Who are you and why are you not dead for using that idiot's name?' he asked as the thought occurred to him. He might have sounded rude, he realized too late as he looked at the vague surprise on the other's face, ignoring how Lavi snickered at his words. The damned rabbit, always knowing everything, he thought, irritated.

'I'm Yuu's childhood friend, beansprout,' the man replied, stressing each syllable of the nickname. Allen bristled at the smug satisfaction on Kanda's face before the meaning of the words sank in and he choked on his own saliva, momentarily shocked speechless. When Kanda's cheeks coloured with the faintest of blushes, Allen could only blink.

'His what?' he asked when he finally got back the control over his body. Kanda narrowed his eyes at him, as though wanting to threaten Allen to not continue, but Allen turned to Lavi. 'Oh my god, Lavi, did I get to some parallel universe? BaKanda has friends?' he asked, making the redhead laugh. Edward looked at him in amused confusion.

'I'm going to kill you,' Kanda proclaimed, making a move to get up from the bed, but his "childhood friend" stopped him. Allen clearly heard him pretty much scold Kanda and remind of the doctor's orders and the only thing the man got in return was a soft "stop fussing, Alma". This was unheard of and he glanced at Lavi, only to see the redhead smirking slightly. Quietly, Allen asked Lavi whether the redhead was seeing the same thing.

'Allen, meet Alma, Yuu-chan's childhood friend,' the redhead said instead of answering, focusing everybody's attention on himself. 'Alma, meet Allen, whom Yuu so charmingly calls beansprout,' he added, looking delighted at Kanda's furious expression. Allen laughed and greeted Alma, getting and enthusiastic greeting back.

'Traitor,' muttered Kanda, much to Allen's amusement. Alma, smiling brightly, leaned against the sour swordsman, practically lying on top of him and the only complaint he got was something along the lines of: 'What the hell happened to watching out for my wounds?' asked in a mildly irritated tone and absolutely no hostile and violent moves. Whatever sedatives Kanda was under, Allen wanted a shot for later use. Definitely.

'We had a nasty meeting with Tyki Mikk,' Lavi said, tone serious and expression troubled. 'He told us he killed you and that he wanted to kill us also, starting with Yuu, but after Alma here gave him a couple of serious scratches, he had to withdraw. Then came the military reports that the "weird white-haired youngster" was alive and we had you brought as fast as possible to the headquarters,' he added. Allen pursed his lips. He didn't think Tyki would attack quite so fast.

'Wait, you said Alma managed to attack him? Physically?' he asked as Lavi's words sank in properly. He looked back at the parasitic Exorcist, still leaning against Kanda, with new respect. Alma's eyes, so friendly moments ago, were sharp shreds of ice-cold fury while Lavi quickly told Allen about the whole meeting and Allen made a mental note to never hurt Kanda in Alma's presence.

'I talked with him,' he said tiredly when Lavi finished his narration. 'Tyki, I mean. He showed up on the train and revealed his grand plan to me,' he snorted. 'You guys also crossed through that freaky, white place, right?' he asked. Lavi explained to them what he had learnt from the guy called "Truth" and it didn't escape Allen's attention that Edward, so far silent, was the one listening with the most attention. 'But we are not the first Exorcists who died. Could there be any more of us?' he asked, looking at Kanda.

'Why are you giving me that look, beansprout?' Kanda asked back, glaring angrily. Allen rolled his eyes and pointed out that Kanda has been in Amestris for a year now and could have been expected to know a bit about the world. He couldn't interpret the weird grimace that crossed Kanda's face, but the reply was what he should have expected: 'If you think that I wanted to waste my time looking for stupid Exorcists who got themselves killed, think again beansprout.'

'You got yourself killed as well BaKanda,' Allen pointed out, irritation welling up in him. He had no idea why Kanda could and would annoy him so easily. He didn't know why he always took the bait either, however, it wasn't the time. 'But never mind. Tyki is convinced that it's only the four of us. He left his butterflies with the Truth guy, giving them orders to eat everything and everybody who tries to cross over to Amestris,' he continued, forcing his tone to remain neutral, even as the words he spoke provoked disturbing images. Lavi winced, while Kanda looked away. Even Alma looked disturbed and a thought occurred to Allen.

'Forgive me the harshness, Alma,' he started, flinching slightly when Kanda directed his best withering glare towards him. 'I never met you and, well, not even Lenalee knew you, so you must have died a long time ago,' he continued, wondering if it was possible that Kanda's glare darkened further. Alma looked uncomfortable. 'Did you never find other Exorcists here? I find it hard to believe that we should be so special.'

'Well, the truth is,' Alma started, fidgeting. He glanced at Kanda, who shook his head minimally. 'The truth is that I did die ten years ago. But I didn't know any Exorcists, other than Yuu, back in the- in the other world,' he finished awkwardly. There was something definitely fishy about the half-hearted confession, but Allen's mind was overwhelmed by the math. Alma didn't look any older than Lavi or Kanda and ten years earlier they were eleven and ten years old, respectively, and suddenly "childhood friend" took on a more sinister meaning. Coming to that conclusion he didn't really feel like pursuing that line of conversation.

'I suppose we have to trust Tyki then,' he said cautiously. Alma visibly relaxed at those words and Kanda's glare diminished somewhat and Allen had to stifle his curiosity. 'Tyki claims to be the only Noah in this world and he wants it that way. He wants this world as his toy and he thinks that with his three demons, and he calls them "his" demons, and the Tease, he can get rid of us,' he explained. 'He said he found something in here that made the demons immortal or nearly immortal,' he added. Edward sat up straighter, a frown on his face.

'Well, we have two nearly immortal Exorcists and the Destroyer of Time in our hands,' Lavi interjected cheerfully. Allen twitched: two nearly immortal Exorcists? Edward was still frowning, looking like he was considering something very seriously. 'Tyki will need some time to lick his wounds. The cuts Alma gave him looked pretty deep and they were inflicted by the Innocence, so he shouldn't be able to shrug them off just like that,' the redhead continued.

'So if they're only nearly immortal we just need to kill them enough times and they would stay dead?' Alma asked with more familiarity than Allen would have liked to hear. 'This should not be so difficult if we're having one at the time, only they will probably come all together and we have to consider the butterflies,' he added.

'Plus a Noah,' Allen muttered.

'Mustang's fire burns the butterflies,' Edward pointed out and they all looked at him. 'What? We agreed to help you get rid of the danger, didn't we? Clearly we cannot kill those beasts you call demons, but we can provide cover and help. Also, if I'm right, we might be able to exhaust the lifetime of those demon things, using alchemy. The only trick will be to keep them still,' he added, looking very smug.


	13. Chapter 13

Ch 13

His reasoning was simple, but Ed always liked to think simply. The monsters were immortal. In their original world there was nothing that could render them immortal. In the world of Amestris there was only one thing: the Philosopher's Stone. The monsters gleamed red. Conclusion: they had the Philosopher's Stone in them and their immortality had an expiry date. All they had to do was to exhaust the power of the Stone and the monsters would be killed by the Exorcists. Things were simple until that point.

'And, considering that those so-called demons cannot be harmed by any weapon we possess, how exactly do you want to exhaust their Stones and stay alive?' asked Mustang. That was precisely the point of the plan when Edward's idea got slightly more complicated. Trust the general bastard to see it immediately and strike the plan in its weakest link the very moment Edward stopped talking. He grimaced and opened his mind to say that it was where improvisation stepped into the picture, but he was cut short by the redhead.

'We'd provide cover for Edward,' said Lavi Martel without a hint of hesitation. He was the fourth person in Mustang's office, much to Hawkeye's displeasure. He didn't seem in the slightest bothered, even when she outright said it that she didn't think the "strangers" should be included at that stage of planning. 'We'll leave the immortal to the immortal, while me and Allen cover for Ed from close and you provide some long range coverage with your flames,' the Exorcist added lightly.

'By "leave the immortal to the immortal" you mean-'

'Letting Yuu and Alma deal with Tyki Mikk,' Lavi interrupted Hawkeye's doubtful question. 'The Noah is far beyond me and Yuu is the only Exorcist ever to have taken down a Noah. He and Alma should be enough to get rid of Mikk,' he added. The two Exorcists in question were still in the hospital, along with Allen Walker. It didn't really look all that well if Kanda Yuu was still out of commission, but Ed has overheard Lavi telling the Xingese to rest better because "you know who's going to be the next target and I'm sure you don't want Mikk to succeed".

Alma Karma, the officer of Amestrian Military, the immortal Exorcist and Tyki Mikk's probable next target all in one, was away at that moment. And Kanda, whom even Ed now knew as a stubborn person who thoroughly disliked hospitals, said nothing in protest. He fell back on the bed and crossed his arms, looking away from Lavi with a pout. Five seconds later he glared at Allen Walker, who still needed medical assistance, for laughing.

'The Noah, you tell me, was the one who arranged Kanda's death in your original world,' Mustang pointed out and Ed saw a nasty grimace twist Lavi's face. He sat up straighter and listened: this was obviously one of the topics Mustang and Lavi have discussed in four eyes at some point.

'I'm betting on the protective instincts of those two to make them more deadly,' Lavi admitted. 'You saw it yourself: Alma managed to actually touch Mikk with his attack. He must be the first Exorcist to manage and I'm sure that he will repeat this feat. And Kanda will be there to catch him when he falls and slice Mikk when the Noah tries to as much as pinch Alma,' he added with a hint of mocking in his tone. But his face was serious and there was an edge to his voice that said it was no joking matter.

'All that is not very encouraging,' Hawkeye muttered. 'And we can provide no help in this situation,' she added with displeasure. Lavi shook his head and said that she better not be there at all, which got him a harsh glare and an assurance that Hawkeye would follow wherever Mustang would go.

'How romantic of you,' Ed muttered under his breath. 'In the end it's not whether the plan is good or not but are we willing to risk that those creatures wreak the city or some other place in the world or are we going to stop them,' he said louder. 'This is not the time to be cautious.'

'Every time is a time to be cautious,' snapped Mustang with a glare. 'I have no intentions to have to go to Resembool to explain to your younger brother why his only family is gone. Or have you forgotten that you are just a mortal? So are they, if you think carefully, they have all died to come here. And maybe it takes more than one death to get rid of them permanently, but eventually they will die.'

Edward winced. The general bastard was right, of course. He would never admit it out loud, but Mustang was usually right. All the same, Ed was not going to sit idle and listen about how Tyki Mikk used his machines to destroy their world, especially not when a target could just as well be in the distant Resembool, where the only people he had left were waiting, unaware of the danger. He was sure that Mustang was not going to stay idle either and was just complaining now because he wasn't the one who came up with their best plan.

'They will outlast Mikk and come to help us with the demons, I'm sure of that,' Lavi countered with conviction. 'Not that Allen will need their help. You haven't seen Allen in a fight yet, but he's really something. I'll be just playing back up for him to be honest. And Allen will never let anything happen to Ed. He'd rather take the bullet for him,' he added. Mustang looked at Lavi thoughtfully, a spark in his eyes.

'I need time to think about it,' he said finally, silencing Hawkeye's protests with a gesture. 'Go visit your friends in the hospital Martel, and take the midget with you, please.'

'Who are you calling so small that he can slip under the closed door because he doesn't stand taller than the carpet that's under the door?' Edward yelled, jumping up. He felt furious and the fury boiled in him when Mustang bastard didn't even try to hide his triumphant smirk. How dared he insult Edward's height again?

'Lieutenant, did you hear somebody talk? I'm sure I did but I cannot see anybody over the desk,' Mustang pretended to look around. He was going to die! Behind Ed, Lavi started laughing, badly covering it up with coughing. Ed clapped his hands and was ready to unleash hell, only Hawkeye cleared her throat and shot him a stern look. And even Ed knew there were forces not to be meddled with, so he withdrew, pleased when the lieutenant scolded Mustang for his childish provocations.

'That's our cue to go,' Lavi, still sounding amused, whispered into Ed's ear and they slipped out of the office, closing the door behind them.

'He's just kicking up the fuss, because it was me who came up with the plan,' Edward told the redhead, who looked suitably curious. 'Yeah, it's always like that. The general bastard just needs to think he's the best or whatever. In the end we're going to do it my way, because I'm the alchemy genius in this office.'

'Don't let the general hear that,' Breda advised him and Ed smiled brightly. Of course he was going to tell that to Mustang, as soon as the general bastard stopped pretending to consider the plan. 'So what are we going to do?'

'You're going to do nothing,' Lavi said before Ed had the time to stop smiling and answer. 'This is not a situation where guns can change anything, so please don't get any ideas,' he said firmly. Ed rolled his eyes: hero complexes, all four of the Exorcists.

'Slow down, Mr Martel,' Havoc piped in. 'You might not realize, but we're not letting the general or Ed into a dangerous situation without some sort of cover. I don't know what kind of world you are from, but here we don't abandon our comrades,' he added with the same firmness Lavi spoke before. The redhead nodded.

'I suppose. In my world, we also had support. They were volunteers, who risked their lives to find Innocence and died by hundreds in the hands of demons. I'm sure that your general will not let you share their fate,' he said sombrely. Ed gulped. He made a mental note to tell Mustang to not take any cover when they will be going to meet Tyki Mikk and the machines infused with Philosopher's Stones.

'Like we feared death!' squeaked Fuery. Lavi was opening his mouth to reply when Edward decided that this conversation was leading them nowhere.

'Guys, let's just let the general bastard decide what's going to happen,' he said quickly. From behind the doors to Mustang's office, they heard shouting. Vaguely, he understood that the topic of general's anger has changed. It no more had anything to do with the current situation, but rather with Mustang's favourite pen being glued to the desk. He couldn't help the victorious smile that stretched his lips, but he knew that it was a good time to make himself scarce. 'I think I'll be going now. Come Lavi, I'll show you the shortcut to the hospital,' he said even faster and then pulled the redhead out of the office.

'You glued your commanding officer's pen to his desk?' Lavi, who had supremely good hearing, laughed once they were at a safe distance from the office. Ed snorted.

'Two days ago,' he admitted shamelessly. He was bored, Mustang was on the phone. It seemed like a good idea at the time. It still did actually, even though Mustang would surely have no problem in identifying the culprit. 'Shows how much the guy's working if he only realized now,' he added mockingly and they laughed. Encouraged, Lavi told him about some pranks he pulled, mainly on Kanda, but also on a person he called the "branch chief". Ed mentally noted a couple, ready to try them out at convenient time.

'I would have loved to see his face if he couldn't pick up his favourite coffee mug,' Lavi stated as they turned the last corner before the hospital room where the other Exorcists were staying for the moment. 'A fair warning though, before you try a practical joke on Yuu: don't meddle with his katana. Yuu is deadly without as well and it is his most prized possession.'

'Noted,' Ed commented, not bothering to tell Lavi that he was not afraid. He was pretty sure that Lavi knew anyway, but since the redhead didn't continue, Ed was also willing to drop the topic. Plus, they have arrived to the hospital, waved their way through the reception and quickly reached the right room.

'Care to repeat that, beansprout?' they heard from behind the door to the hospital room of the Exorcists. Lavi smirked. They didn't have time to say anything before Allen's voice reached them, repeating something about a girly hairstyle. Kanda growled. Allen laughed and started saying something else, but stopped abruptly. Lavi chose that moment to open the door and enter the room, cheerfully asking how his friends were doing.


	14. Chapter 14

Ch 14

As Edward predicted, Mustang did accept the plan. He brought in some modifications, accepted the demands of Kanda and the polite requests of Allen. He found a place where they could set their "trap" and firmly forbade his team from following. He also hesitated impossibly and only after the second attack of the Demons on a small town, leading to nearly complete destruction of the whole settlement and the death of the great majority of the inhabitants, did Mustang finally give a green light to the plan.

For what felt like a millionth time, Lavi looked around the place they have chosen. It wasn't far from the Central City, but enough so that the fights shouldn't affect the inhabitants. It was an old military site, with remains of ruined buildings desolately sticking from the cracked ground, the metal reinforcements of the walls poking out of the concrete. In the middle, there was a large area which used to be a courtyard of the base: flat, cracked pavement with plants pushing through, proving the real force of the nature to a casual observer.

A more trained observer, such as Lavi, would notice the miniscule gleam of metal from where Edward was hidden and the corner of the dark coat of Mustang. Probably, Lavi assumed, such an observer would also see the shadow of his hammer and the tips of Allen's white hair. However, whichever observer would come to look at the scene, they would surely focus on the two persons in the middle of the courtyard, facing each other from a distance of twenty steps: the bait of the trap.

From where he was hidden, Lavi could see Alma flash Kanda a brilliant smile before pulling up his right sleeve and keeping his left hand just about the elbow. Kanda's hand went to the katana at his belt and drew the shiny blade in one, smooth motion. Simultaneously, the two Second Exorcists activated their Innocence, Kanda immediately going through the second and third activation.

Allen did say that Tyki's Demons could not control the urge of attacking an activated Innocence.

On the courtyard, Kanda and Alma went through a series of beautifully choreographed kata, but Lavi could see how they both only had attention on their surroundings rather than each other. The clashing of Kanda's katana against Alma's blades was the only sound for a while: attack, parry, jump away. The two Exorcists turned ninety degrees and went at it again: attack, parry, attack, jump, parry, break. Lavi could feel his heartbeat speeding up as the wait got to him: what if Tyki would not come?

Attack, parry, jump away. Ninety degree turn in those graceful, catlike moves. And then the relative silence exploded with a roar of the horrifying machines, gleaming red as they charged onto the courtyard from three sides. Worst case scenario then, Lavi thought, his hammer already activated and growing as he mentally chose the correct stamp and bam: there went a huge fire dragon, circling around Kanda and Alma and making the Demons scatter.

It was the cue for Allen and Edward and Lavi saw them rushing out of their hiding places, Crown Clown fully activated as Allen literally flew to give Edward the cover the alchemist needed. He didn't pay them any more attention, calling up another fiery dragon that momentarily killed one of the Demons. Then, pushing his fear away, Lavi stepped out into the courtyard as well.

'I see you're rushing towards death,' he heard and turned to where Tyki slowly emerged from the ground, right behind Alma. He was underestimating them, the thought crossed Lavi's mind. He might have gotten them that way one or two times, but they did learn: Alma jumped away before Tyki was halfway up, and the Noah found himself in between the two Seconds. Taking in the situation, he laughed coldly. 'Could it be that you have prepared a trap for me here? Could it be that you expect to win?' he growled the last word, his face twisting in an ugly grimace. Simultaneously, a crown of violet burst into life around his head.

It grew, until, suddenly, there was a gust of fire that cut through the very middle of the cloud and made Tyki sink back into the ground rapidly. The butterflies scattered, but Lavi couldn't follow them: he needed to duck from the attack of a Demon.

'Don't get cocky, Exorcists,' Tyki growled. Lavi couldn't turn to see when he was, busy fighting the Demon that systematically got up from his attacks and swung his fists with frightening accuracy. A piercing cry of pain made him stumble and he would have been history, if not for a gust of Mustang's fire that made the Demon hesitate with his next swing.

Kanda yelled in wordless fury, somewhere to Lavi's side. One of the Demons, the one which Edward has already transmuted to the building remains, slammed its fist into the building and ripped the crate of metal holding him down. So much for that plan, Lavi thought, but Edward was already on it again.

Their immortality comes from the Philosopher's Stone, Edward has said, which means that we can exhaust it with alchemy.

Fireworks exploded from the side of the third Demon, which was now also welded to the metal reinforcements of the ruined building, with his back to the courtyard and with his four arms flailing around, trying to get a hold of Allen, who was attacking him mercilessly. Further to the centre of the courtyard, Kanda clashed with Tyki. For a split of a second Lavi thought that they had won, but then he saw Noah's hand coming out of Kanda's back and the samurai stumbled backwards as the hand withdrew.

Too late Tyki heard Alma, who was jumping towards him from behind, bloody, his face twisted in a horrible grimace. Even before Kanda fell to the ground, Alma fell on the Noah, one of his blades digging into the opponent's shoulder before Tyki could make himself immaterial and Alma stumbled to the ground, rolling onto Kanda. Lavi could only hope they had enough lives.

'I see,' the Noah hissed furiously, holding his bleeding shoulder. The cloud of violet butterflies that burst forth from him this time made the previous attack seem like a child's play. Beyond them, Allen had to save himself with a desperate escape when two Demons ganged up on him.

'Fullmetal!' Lavi heard a distressed shout as the butterflies started their descent towards the two Seconds. Mustang was distracted, flitted through his head. Then he saw why.

Edward has outdone himself. Even as Lavi saw him falling away from a Demon in an arc, he could see the Demon's structure fluctuate. It took him a split of a second to realize that the creature was made of tightly packed cotton. It took him a full second to realize that Ed half landed, half fell and didn't get up from where he crumbled to the ground, cornered by the wobbling mass of poisonous cotton.

'I'm on it, get the butterflies,' he barked sharply at the general, glancing backwards to make sure that the man complied. He saw the moment of indecision in Mustang's eyes, but right then Alma and Kanda screamed in pain and the Noah laughed. As Mustang turned towards the centre of the courtyard, Lavi jumped at snatched Edward away from danger.

'Metal atoms into carbon- Normally impossible- This mass- Ate the Stone-' the alchemist gasped out between shallow breaths when he noticed his company. Lavi's brain supplied the rest of the sentences and anyway, the most important was that the Demon was no longer immortal. And that he could have seen from the lack of red glow.

Cotton should burn nicely, he thought, sending a fiery dragon towards the wobbling mass.

'Get away everybody!' he shouted as the dragon rushed to its target. The poison would spread more than usually from that one. With the corner of his eye, he saw Allen jumping to Mustang and grabbing him to get him away fast enough. He couldn't see the Seconds, but they were immune, even if what Lavi did would cost them each a life.

The Demon took to fire like dry paper, all but exploding into a giant fireball, the heat licking Lavi's back for a long while, until he was well away from the courtyard. Edward was hanging limply in his arms. Standing precariously on the roof of the ruined building, Lavi turned around to see the fire. To the right, closer to the courtyard buy higher up, he saw Allen balancing himself and Mustang on top of a pole. They seemed to be arguing, but the roaring of the fire made it impossible for Lavi to hear their words. The two Demons still alive were trashing, both trying to free the one stuck to the building in the courtyard. It was a rare and frightening show of cooperation, but Lavi ignored them for the moment, eye straining to see-

'You think you're so smart?' asked an angry voice right behind him.

There was nothing Lavi could do. He felt hands push him forward before he could turn. Holding Edward, and he couldn't let go, he couldn't even try to catch himself before his balance was tipped too far. He couldn't even hold in the scream as he felt himself fall from far too high. He thought he could hear Allen shouting, but just then Edward woke and screamed as well as he realized their situation.

Tyki laughed.

They fell through the floor taking pieces with them. One cut Lavi's arm so deep he felt himself letting go of Edward. Shit, he thought, we promised nothing will happen to the kid. But there was nothing he could do. The impact nearly knocked him out and he was falling anyway. The floor below was broken but through the holes he could see their landing spot: plain concrete.

There was a flash of movement to the side. A second later, Lavi felt himself brutally jarred, suddenly flying to the side rather than downwards. He screamed again, begging to stop, when he realized that in front there was a brick wall, looking all too solid for his liking. With another violent jolt, he came to halt a mere meter away from the wall. To the left, something crashed into the wall, although probably with less momentum than it should have and only then Lavi had enough wits to look at his saviour.

Kanda. The samurai looked horrible. His face was bloodied, a half healed gash running from his forehead, across his left eyelid, now closed, and down to his chin. There was a bruise along his jaw, bright purple against the pale skin. His right arm and side were badly burned, the clothes gone completely and the skin charred. Lavi winced guiltily, because he was probably responsible for that one. Half of Kanda's hair was out of its usual ponytail, tangled and dirty with ash, blood and grime. He was breathing heavily, falling to his knees as soon as he let go of Lavi.

'Are you alright, Alma? Hey, Alma!' Edward shouted in panic and Lavi looked to the other two, correctly guessing that what hit the wall moments before was Alma's back. The Second was slumped against the wall, head hanging low, the only sign of life being his shallow, slow breathing. He too was bloodied and burned, his clothes barely hanging on him.

Would they be enough to finish Tyki off? Lavi hasn't seen the Noah when he got pushed off the roof, but Tyki sounded safe and healthy. He was probably more powerful than Skin and defeating Skin has very nearly claimed Kanda's life. Was Lavi being optimistic when he thought two Seconds were enough to stand up to one of the most powerful Noah?

The hissing sound announced healing.

'Let's go,' Kanda said, his voice nowhere near its usual tone and strength. 'We'll escort you to the next Demon, in case Tyki shows up again,' he added. Lavi glanced back right on time to see him get up. His burns were gone, the arm and side uncovered by the missing clothes looking unnaturally perfect. 'We need the shrimp to get them mortal again.'

'Who are you calling so short that he can be crushed by a mango?' yelled Edward, making Lavi smile slightly. Even in those circumstances the kid couldn't let go of the perceived slight. Well, Lavi thought, Kanda probably meant exactly what Edward understood.

The samurai didn't react to the question at all. He pushed Edward away from Alma, gently but firmly, and then grabbed his best friend's hand and pulled him up, seemingly ignoring the pained moan that escaped Alma's lips. Lavi winced when he saw the bloody mess in the place of Alma's left eye. That he would regrow it was a small consolation, especially as the Bookman started noticing the other marks Tease left on the two Seconds. It was easier to notice with the burns gone.

'Will you be alright?' Kanda asked Alma in a tone Lavi has never heard him use before. It was a mix of affection and worry he didn't think Kanda was capable to express. The Bookman felt his jaw drop when the samurai gently pushed Alma's messy hair off the bruised face. Alma smiled slightly, warmly, and assured Kanda that he would be alright, even though he needed to lean on the other to stand straight. Would they really last against Tyki?

Lavi cleared his throat. Awkwardly, he told them to follow. From looking at the courtyard earlier, he knew exactly where they needed to go to find the second Demon, assuming that the creature was still attached to the wall by the welded reinforcements.

He hissed in sudden pain when he leaned on his hand to get up. He looked at it in surprise, only then remembering that he did go through the floor, complete with metal reinforcements and wooden floorboards. He didn't know which got him the gash in his arm, but now that the adrenaline went down a bit, he couldn't help moaning in pain. Shit, would he even be able to wield the hammer?

He would have to find the hard way, he thought, using the other arm to push himself up. Edward also gathered himself up clumsily and, slowly, they made their way following Lavi. The hissing sound of regeneration announced that at least two of their fighters were getting back in shape. Maybe there was hope for them, Lavi thought, but didn't dare to dwell on it too long. There were still two Demons and the Noah to take care of.

'We're nearly there,' he announced, glancing back to see that Alma was now walking on his own, his eye half rebuilt and looking particularly grotesque. Lavi turned back to face forward, hiding his wince. Edward promised that he was ready and Lavi nodded in acknowledgement.

There was a shift in the air and a sudden foreboding made the hairs on Lavi's neck stand.

'You're such pests,' he heard behind, accompanied by gasps and the unmistakeable sound of drawn katana. He turned already knowing what he would see: Tyki Mikk, standing behind Alma, holding the Exorcist in front of him like a shield. The small flame of hope in Lavi's heart burned stronger when he took in the bloodied appearance of the Noah.

'Go ahead,' Kanda ordered coldly, not even looking at Lavi. The redhead hesitated. Tyki laughed, his hand coming out of Alma's torso. A violet butterfly bloomed in it for them all to see, before the hand withdrew. Alma didn't even scream, but Lavi knew that the Noah left his carnivore pet somewhere within Alma's body.

Kanda repeated his order icily. Then, before Lavi could even think of a reply, he charged to attack head on. He was so fast that Lavi only understood what happened when Alma and Tyki both gasped in pain. Edward screamed in shock or protest, Lavi didn't really know. Numb, he pulled the alchemist away. They needed to go. They needed to trust the others to do their job.


	15. Chapter 15

Ch 15

He jumped in surprise when the small stack of papers was violently thrown onto the desk in front of him, barely missing his bandaged hand. Not a single sheet of paper got misplaced and not a single word was uttered before the messenger left the office, slamming the door. General Roy Mustang sighed. He gave up on trying to get Riza to talk to him again, knowing very well why she was so angry. He would be as well, if he was in her position, so the least he could to was give her time. He just hoped that it wouldn't last much longer, because he needed her advice very, very soon.

Tentatively, he grabbed the first document of the pile with his bandage-wrapped hand. With the other, also fully covered in the bandages, he clumsily grabbed the pen, fully planning to sign the paper without reading it. In any case, everything that got to his office was carefully selected by Riza and he knew that even now, when she was angry at him, she wouldn't let it influence his work. He just wished she further trimmed the documents he really needed to sign, but he strongly suspected that she gave him more than strictly necessary.

Using his burned hands hurt and the pain made him think back to that dreadful moment a week earlier, when he was desperately trying to keep the transformed Demon away from Fullmetal and the carnivore butterflies from descending upon the slowly healing non-homunculi. He overused his flames back then, but it was the only thing he could do, while Martel and Walker fended off the Noah and the remaining Demon.

He winced, remembering how his hope, when the non-homunculi got up finally, changed into horror in a split of a second. The heat of his flames melted some of the Demon-turned-jelly and it dripped on Fullmetal's automail arm, making pentagrams appear immediately. Mustang remembered the warnings: if the Demon poison gets you, you die unless you stop it from spreading. He understood it when Martel slammed his hammer through the metal arm, destroying it completely and severing it from Edward's body before the pentagrams spread. He understood Martel's own scream of terror when the melted jelly dripped on his hand and one of the non-homunculi slashed it away without a second of hesitation.

He wished he hasn't seen it.

After that he was reduced to being Fullmetal's and Martel's protector, while Walker took on the nearly-exhausted Demon and the non-homunculi somehow managed to defeat the Noah. The latter took longer than Mustang would have liked it, even after Walker joined the fray, the Demon gone. When the Noah finally fell and was literally hacked into pieces, the three Exorcists fell as well. Martel has fainted from blood loss and Mustang himself realized just how burned his hands were, the gloves falling slowly when he lowered his arms.

That was how Hawkeye found them. She arrived, despite his firm orders that nobody approaches the site, right on time to see Fullmetal sway dangerously after having dragged the last of the unconscious Exorcists closer to where Mustang was sitting, leaning against the wall and trying to not cry in pain. The skin on his hands was literally peeling off in places, blistering in others. She said nothing to them, only calling up the team and the medics, and Mustang allowed himself to be taken care of.

'You have a meeting in ten minutes, sir,' said Riza's cold voice from the doorway, snapping Mustang out of his memories, much to his relief. He looked up at her questioningly, then glanced at the clock and remembered: today the others were discharged from the hospital.

Much to his chagrin, Mustang came out of the situation with the least injuries. He supposed that was partly why Riza was so angry with him: because he "only" had burned his hands, while Fullmetal lost his arm, again, got his ribs broken and sustained various other bruises and lacerations. Martel lost a hand, which made his cuts and bruises appear unimportant in comparison, while Walker generally looked like somebody has taken a truck and drove him over a couple of times. The non-homunculi- well, they were a completely different story in any case.

Consequently, Mustang has been released already the following day, while Fullmetal, Martel and Walker have been kept in the hospital. When Mustang last visited, Edward firmly said that he was going straight back to Resembool, as soon as he was released, not only to get his arm back, but also to reassure Alphonse and Winry, who have been calling every day.

'Please let them in as soon as they come,' he requested and Riza left with a curt nod. He had opted against going to the hospital, instead demanding that the three are brought to his office. Apparently Fullmetal threw a fit until Hawkeye pulled out her gun and asked whether he needed an excuse to stay put, or so Havoc told him. The lieutenant was also upset at Mustang and Edward getting injured, but he got over it much faster than Hawkeye and took pity on his superior, providing him with all the information and gossip he could.

Right, he needed to focus now, he thought. Ever since learning about his otherworldly guests, Mustang has been racking his brain for ways of using the unprecedented power. It was either that or imprisoning the four people and he knew he would have to fight with Fullmetal if he chose to do that. And it would be wasting resources, when the four proved to be trustworthy and useful. Ever since coming back from the hospital, Mustang has been formulating plan after plan for getting the "Exorcists" to work for him. Now he was finally going to test it.

He didn't bother looking up when the door to his office opened with a bang, pretending to be busy reading the document in front of him.

'What the hell, general bastard?' Fullmetal demanded angrily. 'We're just released from the hospital and you want us here already? The train is leaving soon,' he added. Lazily, Mustang looked up and took in the appearance of his three visitors. He had to stifle a smile when Riza sneaked in behind them and closed the door from the inside. She was finally getting over her anger.

'Fullmetal, do I need to remind you the correct protocol when addressing your superior? Or is your head too small to fit that information?' he asked mockingly. Behind the blond, Martel and Walker didn't even try to hide their smiles at his words.

'Who are you calling so small that he only has three brain cells?!' the most renowned alchemist of the country exclaimed, turning red on the face. At the door, Riza looked down, probably to hide her smile. There was some comforting familiarity about this situation, Mustang would admit it. 'You bastard, did you have me dragged here only to insult me? If I miss my train, you'll regret it.'

'I merely wanted to congratulate you on staying put in bed for as long as the doctors deemed appropriate, Fullmetal,' Mustang replied with a mocking smirk. Edward glared at him through narrowed eyes. They both knew why he stayed: he was worried what Mustang would do with Walker and Martel. 'I also wanted to give you your official leave papers, stating clearly that you are to come back on call,' he added lightly, before turning to the other two. 'Now you, as I understood, are going to Resembool with Fullmetal.'

'I heard it's the place to go for getting new limbs,' Lavi Martel replied cheerfully, waving his bandaged hand. 'I understood, from what Ed said, that the military would cover the costs of the surgery and all,' he added, the glee in his tone impossible to miss. Mustang glared at the alchemist in question.

'Really?'

'It's the least you can do for them for saving our world,' the blond replied with a shrug and Mustang couldn't really argue. He was going to pay anyway, since Lavi simply could not have enough to cover the new arm. He said it out loud and asked what Lavi planned to do afterwards.

'I was planning to go back to the bookshop. Why? Do you have an offer?' the redhead asked. He knew. Mustang was sure of it. Lavi Martel was dangerously smart and that was why he shouldn't be let out of sight. They both knew that the military wasn't ready to let go of the otherworldly visitors either.

'There's a post of a librarian in the First Branch of the National Central Library,' Mustang said lazily. Just from his tone, nobody could guess the trouble it took him to free that post, but Lavi Martel smirked knowingly. 'It's actually a pretty boring job, considering how few people ever go there and how they usually know exactly what they are looking for. Of course, there is the small requirement of all the employees belonging to Amestrian military,' he trailed off, looking straight into Martel's sole, green eye.

'It's a shame I'm not,' the redhead drawled.

'Indeed it would be, if there was no way to quickly incorporate you into my special division,' Mustang agreed, enjoying the slight twitch that meant he did manage to surprise the redhead. The green eye glanced towards Walker, who shrugged, and then narrowed in suspicion, turning back to Mustang. He waited in silence for the decision.

'Alright, general Mustang, let's play open cards,' the redhead announced suddenly. 'In reality, I only want a calm life and I think the military cannot give me that. I will admit to my curiosity though, and so I will humour you for the moment and listen to your proposition. First, however, please do answer me this: where are Yuu and Alma?'

The question, which he had expected, brought back the words of the medical report. They should have died, the doctor said, unconvinced when Mustang tried to tell him that maybe he has overestimated the injuries the two non-homunculi sustained. He only started doubting himself when the injuries seemed to disappear. Alma Karma's request for leave, upon being reminded that he was still military, was exactly what Mustang needed right then: removing the two from the headquarters, pushing them away from the hospital and the curious press for a long while. After obtaining the promise from Karma that he and Kanda would be back to "discuss the future", Mustang employed his team in order to sneak them out of the hospital in secret.

He also had Havoc take care of their medical files, so they would show lesser injuries and a discharge by his trusted doctor. Back when Hawkeye arrived, Mustang was too preoccupied by pain to make sure Kanda and Karma were not shipped off to the hospital. In the future, he needed to ensure that such a slip did not repeat or people would find out that he was sheltering homunculi. That would kill his reputation and whatever chances he could have in becoming the Führer.

'Officer Karma has taken leave subsequently to his discharge from the hospital,' Mustang replied without hesitation, keeping his voice formal but not threatening. It was not strictly true, but close enough and it spared him loads of explanations. 'I believe he wanted to spend some time with his family and with Yuu Kanda, who left with him,' he added. There was a moment of silence, while Lavi Martel looked at him as though he was trying to see his thoughts through his skull. 'There is really no point in me lying to you.'

'What are you planning to do with them afterwards?' Lavi asked, ignoring Mustang's reassurance.

'I will give them the exact same proposition as I am giving to you. Well, I'll not suggest working in the library, I haven't figured that detail out yet,' Mustang replied. He could see Martel's next question form in his head and answer before it could be voiced. 'I trust that you will help me in convincing them that staying within the military is the best choice for somebody with their special abilities,' he said, purposefully hesitating over the last word.

'You better not be getting some stupid ideas, general bastard,' said Edward, who grew surprisingly attached to Kanda and Karma, possibly because of their brother-like relationship he could easily relate to. Mustang allowed himself an icy glare towards his subordinate before reminding him that he was firmly against human experimentation and that it was exactly why the two non-homunculi should use the protection military offered.

'You haven't talked with them?' Walker butted in.

'Believe it or not, but I thought I could give them some time to catch up first. I must be getting sentimental,' he said, faking an indifferent tone. It was not entirely a lie. The fact was that Lavi Martel's explanation of who the two non-homunculi were and how their lives have been was enough to give Mustang nightmares. Getting them away for a while was a bonus. Plus, he was sure that Martel would be much more efficient in convincing Kanda into cooperation than he would be himself. Thus, he decided to first secure Martel and then go after Kanda and Karma. Walker would anyway stick around because he was the type with the incurable hero complex.

'Alright, I'm in on your little deal,' the redhead said suddenly. 'I only have two conditions,' he added and, at Mustang's raised eyebrow, continued promptly: 'The first is that we will in no way be treated as research subjects, observed or restrained. We want to live exactly like any other military personnel, most preferably like major Elric. Secondly, I get full access to all your archives and all the knowledge you have about alchemy.'

Mustang smirked. It was easier than he thought, but then, the redhead must have realized the most important thing as well: Amestris was their new home and they needed to find themselves in it. He acknowledged Martel's demands and turned his eyes to Allen Walker, who agreed without a fuss. He promised them to keep them up to date with the happenings in the Central and they promised to be back as soon as Lavi recuperates after the surgery. Then the three teenagers left and Riza Hawkeye looked at Mustang for the first time in a week.

'Are you sure this is the best idea, sir?' she asked quietly. Mustang sighed tiredly. The truth was that he wasn't sure at all, but there didn't seem to be an alternative.

'I have a good feeling about it, but it's really because I have no other choice,' he pointed out. 'I cannot let those non-homunculi out of my sight, both so that they are not discovered and so that they don't get stupid ideas. I cannot put them in prison without risking the other two and Fullmetal starting a riot. I cannot imprison the four of them, or Fullmetal's going to throw a riot. Plus, I don't think we have guards good enough to restrain them without outright keeping them shackled to a wall, at least Walker and Karma, since we cannot take their weapons away. And you know I'm not that kind of person. Besides, no matter that Tyki Mikk person said, we need to be prepared if more like him appear.'

Riza acknowledged his words with a nod.

'Now, if you please, sir, there are some documents waiting for your signatures. Also, I have scheduled two more assessment exams for tomorrow. Please make sure to read through the documentation I left on your desk,' she said and left the office. Mustang groaned. Reality never wasted time in catching up with him.


End file.
